Julian Bliss

Julian Bliss
Origin Harpenden, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
Genres Classical, Chamber music
Occupation(s) Soloist, chamber musician, clarinet designer
Instruments Clarinet
Website http://www.julianbliss.com
Notable instruments
Leblanc Bliss

Julian Bliss (born 1989) is a British clarinettist and clarinet designer. He has performed both as a soloist and as a chamber musician, notably with his teacher Sabine Meyer. He also recently designed the Bliss Clarinet for instrument manufacturer Leblanc.

Education

Bliss started playing clarinet at age 4, when he was given a Lyons C Clarinet, a clarinet designed to let children begin the clarinet four or more years younger than usual. Most students do not play wind instruments until age 11 or 12.[1]

Bliss earned his Postgraduate Artist's Diploma from Indiana University in 2001 at age 12, but he was not awarded his diploma until he graduated from high school.[2] He studied first with David Johnston at Harpenden, Paul Harris, then with Howard Klug at Indiana and with Sabine Meyer in Germany at the Musikhochschule.[3]

Music career

Bliss won the 2001 Concerto Soloists Young Artists Competition in Philadelphia.[2] In 2002, he performed at Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee (during the Prom at the Palace) by royal invitation.[2] He also performed at the Queen's 80th birthday.[4]

He has appeared as a soloist with many orchestras, including the London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, NHK Symphony, Malaysian Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.[3] He has performed at Lincoln Center in New York City and the Louvre in Paris.

Bliss also has a career as a chamber musician. He has collaborated with many of the world's top classical artists, including Joshua Bell, Stephen Kovacevich, Elena Bashkirova, Julian Rachlin, Steven Isserlis and Hélène Grimaud.[3]

He was the subject of a three-part made-for-television documentary entitled "Gifted".[3] He also appeared on the Today program in the United States and on NHK in Japan.[5]

Leblanc Bliss

In collaboration with Leblanc, Bliss developed the Leblanc Bliss clarinet.[6] Says Bliss of the line: "I know I can pick up any Bliss clarinet and be able to perform at the level to which I am accustomed."[6] He characterizes the clarinet's design as "wicked".[7]

The design deviates from standard synthetic clarinets in that it does not use acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), but instead uses a custom composite that produces 20% more amplitude.[7] The barrel and bell are narrower (and thus lighter) than standard clarinets, and the keys are plated in black nickel to differentiate the clarinet's appearance from those with traditional silver-coloured keys.[7] The bore has several tapers and is manufactured to tolerances of hundreds of thousandths of an inch.[1] The right hand trill keys are above the gravity line to reduce the risk of water in the tone holes.[1]

Discography

After his debut album with Julien Quentin, Bliss signed an exclusive recording contract with EMI's main label.[3]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Kessel, Rick (March 2009). "Julian Bliss". School Band and Orchestra Magazine. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Julian Bliss". Alumni Profiles. Indiana University. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "Julian Bliss: Full Biography". IMG Artists. 2008-11-19. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  4. ↑ "About Julian". 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  5. ↑ "Julian Bliss". EMI. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "What's New?". 2009-02-18. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Instruments". Retrieved 2009-07-15.

External links