A Brief History of Mitchell Lurie

Mitchell Lurie was a clarinet virtuoso who died in 2009, he was famed both for high-calibre performances of classical music and as a solo player with Hollywood’s RKO studio orchestras recording music in the great Hollywood years of film. Apparently the composer Leonard Bernstein called him “the premier clarinettist in motion picture music, and indeed in the world”. In his life, Lurie also designed and produced several kinds of reeds, ligatures and mouthpieces. His final design was the Tyro, a cheap clarinet for students, which was released in 2006.

Mitchell Lurie reeds (Standard not Premium) are unfiled and feature a thinner tip, for ease of response, combined with a thicker spine. The result is a more resistant reed with a warmer sound. The Premium come in boxes of 5 and feature all of the aforementioned characteristics of the standard Lurie but using premium cane and filed, leaving more cane in the heart and with a thin tip.

Pitched for the educational market, Mitchell Lurie reeds – manufactured by Rico - are a good choice for advancing clarinettists playing in a band environment.