Philippe Stier

Principal trombone

Philippe Stier (née Schwarz) has been principal trombonist of the Bamberg Symphony since 2025, having previously held the same position with the MDR Symphony Orchestra in Leipzig. He began as a junior student at the University of Music in Nuremberg and later studied under Prof. Oliver Siefert at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts (HfMDK) and Prof. Jonas Bylund in Hanover. Even before completing his bachelor's degree, he accepted a position as principal trombonist at the City Theater in Gießen. In 2019, Philippe Stier won the special prize for the best interpretation of contemporary music at the International Aeolus Wind Competition, and in 2021 he was awarded a scholarship for concert promotion as the top trombonist at the German Music Competition.

During his studies, he already performed with leading orchestras such as the Frankfurt Radio Symphony and the Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra, and he was a member of the international Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Orchestra and the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra. Today, he is a welcome guest with ensembles such as the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Konzerthaus Orchestra Berlin, and Ensemble Modern.

Philippe Stier also performs regularly as a soloist and chamber musician, for example with his piano partner Knut Hanßen or as a member of the adventurous Trio ERA, which features baroque trombone, recorder, and harpsichord. With his trombone quartet "Erlopeas", he explores the outer limits of music history — from Renaissance works on replicas of historical instruments to world premieres and commissioned compositions. As a soloist, he has performed at venues such as the Tonhalle Düsseldorf and Alte Oper Frankfurt, collaborating with orchestras including the Göttingen Symphony Orchestra and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Gießen — often venturing into uncharted territory, most recently with the rarely performed yet highly virtuosic Motorbike Concerto by Jan Sandström.

Beyond music, Philippe Stier has also been actively involved in various fields, serving, for example, as President of the Student Parliament, initiator of a music project for refugee youth, and as a member of the climate protection organization GermanZero. He has received scholarships from institutions including the Polytechnic Society Foundation Frankfurt, the Richard Wagner Association, and the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes).