He studied piano with Kurt Bauer and Erika Haase, and harpsichord with Lajos Rovatkay.
Staier has gained a reputation as a distinguished harpsichordist, fortepiano soloist, and chamber music performer.
As soloist he has performed with Concerto Köln, the Freiburg Barockorchester, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, and the Orchestre des Champs-Elysées Paris.
In the field of chamber music he has had a partnerships with such artists as Christoph Prégardien, Anne Sofie von Otter, Pedro Memelsdorff, Alexei Lubimov and Christine Schornsheim.
Staier has made a number of recordings, primarily of music from the Baroque through early Romantic eras, and he has performed often on the BBC.