About us…
For more than 40 years, Stork Custom Mouthpieces has focused exclusively on one thing: mouthpieces.
Founded in Manhattan and now crafted in Vermont, our reputation has been built through decades of experience, precision craftsmanship, and a deep understanding of brass playing. We believe the right mouthpiece should work with the player—not force the player to compensate.
Every player is different. That’s why we begin with fit: how the instrument responds, how the sound resonates, and how the system functions as a whole. When those things align, performance follows naturally.
From students to world-class professionals, we approach every player with the same respect and attention, because we understand what making music means to the people who pursue it.
Crafted to Fit. Designed to Perform.
John Stork
John Stork has spent more than four decades dedicated exclusively to the craft of brass mouthpiece making.
After serving as a bandsman in the United States Air Force and touring with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, John began his career in New York City under legendary craftsman Robert Giardinelli. It was an era when Broadway players, orchestral musicians, jazz artists, studio professionals, and touring brass sections moved constantly through Manhattan’s great music shops, bringing with them an endless range of technical demands, repairs, alterations, custom work, and performance problems to solve.
Under Giardinelli’s guidance, John learned every aspect of the craft—from precision alterations and threading to custom fabrication, historical reproductions, materials work, and highly specialized one-of-a-kind projects. Over time, he developed a reputation not only for extraordinary versatility, but for a level of consistency and precision that players came to trust implicitly.
While modern CNC technology has transformed the manufacturing side of the industry, the final standard of a mouthpiece still depends on the skill, judgment, and obsessive attention of the craftsman behind it. John remains deeply involved in every stage of production at Stork Custom Mouthpieces, personally operating the CNC equipment and overseeing the finishing and evaluation of each piece that leaves the shop.
Known for exceptionally demanding standards and remarkable dimensional consistency, John’s work has earned the trust of brass players throughout the world across orchestral, commercial, jazz, military, chamber, and solo performance settings. From traditional custom work to unusual specialty projects—including historical reproductions and highly personalized artist requests—his craftsmanship reflects a lifetime devoted entirely to mastering the art of mouthpiece making.
Though Stork Custom Mouthpieces now operates quietly from the hills of Vermont, the company’s reputation continues to rest on the same principles that built it in New York decades ago: precision, craftsmanship, consistency, and uncompromising quality.
From Robert Giardinelli
“I took John under my wings. I started teaching him all I knew.”
“There never was a week passing by without a national or foreign orchestra visiting New York. Giardinelli’s was the first stop for their brass sections and John got to know many of them very well.”
“I am very proud of the beautiful work that John is doing.”
“The pupil who surpassed the master”
— Robert Giardinelli
Phyllis Stork
Phyllis Stork has spent decades helping brass players better understand the relationship between sound, resonance, and equipment.
Born in New York City, she attended the High School of Performing Arts before continuing her studies with Gerard Schwarz, who encouraged her to attend The Juilliard School. There she studied with legendary trumpet pedagogue William Vacchiano, whose influence helped shape both her musical philosophy and her lifelong interest in how players develop sound and efficiency.
As a freelance classical musician in New York, Phyllis performed with a wide range of ensembles and artists, including the New York Trumpet Ensemble under Gerard Schwarz, the Marlboro Festival Orchestra with Rudolf Serkin, and the Alexander Schneider Festival Orchestra in performances at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. Her performance work also included appearances with Wynton Marsalis, Yo-Yo Ma, and distinguished conductors including James Conlon, Roger Norrington, Joseph Silverstein, Blanche Moyse, and Gerard Schwarz.
Over time, her work increasingly centered on a deeper question: why do some setups allow players to perform naturally and resonantly while others lead to compensation, inconsistency, and physical struggle?
That pursuit led Phyllis to become one of the brass world’s most respected voices in mouthpiece theory, player diagnostics, and performance efficiency. Known internationally as “Doctor Mouthpiece,” she has spent years helping players identify the underlying causes of response, endurance, flexibility, articulation, and sound issues—not through gimmicks or trends, but through careful observation, experience, and an understanding of how the body and instrument function together.
Her booklet, Understanding the Mouthpiece (Brass Bulletin, Editions Bim), has been printed in six languages, and her pedagogical writings have appeared in publications including the International Trumpet Guild Journal and The Brass Player. She has presented clinics and worked with players at universities, conferences, and professional organizations throughout the world.
At Stork Custom Mouthpieces, Phyllis continues to work closely with players of all levels, helping them better understand what they are feeling, hearing, and physically managing when they play. Her approach begins not with specifications, but with the player.
Beyond music, Phyllis is also a eigth-degree black belt and Master in Shaolin Kempo Karate.