Nikolai Stem – Clarinet

Hi, I’m Niko Stem and I’m a clarinetist with the Summerville Orchestra! I’ve been living in or around Charleston for about five years now and work as a software developer in health information technology. From a young age, the jokes about be picking the clarinet because of SpongeBob Squarepants were there, especially since the cartoon was relatively new at the time and one of the characters played clarinet, but that’s not the reason! I honestly couldn’t tell you why I was so drawn to it, but I turned down every other suggestion my parents made. I picked up the clarinet at ten years old and have been playing ever since. I joined the S.O. in the 2021-22 season. I studied to be a musician for a long time, but life sent me in a different direction, but I missed playing with large ensembles. That was when I found the S.O., contacted Wojciech for an audition, and the rest is history! Outside of working and the S.O., I enjoy playing lots of video games!