Charles Reiner came to Canada in 1951 as part of the Jewish diaspora caused by persecution in his native Hungary. Before he left Europe, he was interned at the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria from 1944–1945. Afterwards, he returned to Hungary where he attended the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, studying with Arpad Hanak, Arnold Szekely, and Bela Böszörmenyi-Nagy. He won the International Compeition for Music Performers in Geneva in 1947 and was awarded the first prize for virtuosity by the Geneva Conservatory the following year. After he came to Canada, Reiner established himself as a successful concert artist and educator. He was particularly adept at collaboration, performing with Hymen Bress, Maureen Forrester, Antonio Janigro, Arthur LeBlanc, Igor Oistrakh, Ruggiero Ricci, Henryk Szeryng, and Richard Verreau, among many others. He was a professor at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada for 40 years.