Julian Bliss
Clarinetist Julian Bliss is a versatile player who has performed concertos, chamber music with various top players, and jazz with his Julian Bliss Septet. He is also the designer of the Bliss Clarinet, marketed by the Leblanc line of the Conn-Selmer instrument maker.
Bliss was born in St. Albans or Harpenden (the two towns are adjacent) in England's Hertfordshire region in 1989. He was a child prodigy. Bliss' family was not musical, but when he was four, his parents took him to a music shop, and he immediately settled on the clarinet; he was given a Lyons C clarinet made for children. By five, he was already appearing on television, and at six, he was invited to play at Buckingham Palace. He would return there in 2002 for the Queen's Golden Jubilee. Bliss was the subject of the three-part television documentary Gifted and has appeared on the Today Show in the U.S. He was trained at the nearby Purcell School for Young Musicians and then moved on to Indiana University in the U.S., where he had already earned an artist's diploma when he was 12 (it was granted when he finished high school). Bliss' teachers included Paul Harris, Howard Klug, and Sabine Meyer, whose guidance he considers crucial. A prize at the 2001 Concerto Soloists Young Artists Competition in Philadelphia helps Bliss' career along, and he has gone on to perform with the Orchestre National de Paris, the Seattle Symphony, and several major British ensembles. His list of chamber music collaborators is long and includes such stars as pianist Hélène Grimaud, violinist Joshua Bell, and cellist Steven Isserlis. Bliss is also an enthusiastic jazz player who, in 2010, founded the Julian Bliss Septet to perform the music of Benny Goodman and others; the group has performed at Wigmore Hall in London, Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. In 2020, he launched Bliss Music, which publishes clarinet-and-piano arrangements of classical repertory.
Bliss is the designer of the Bliss Clarinet made by the Conn-Selmer firm as part of its Leblanc line. He holds the title of clarinet market developer at the company. The clarinet is made from a special composite that increases its volume range by 20 percent compared to similar synthetic models and includes other technical refinements such as right-hand trill keys that are above the level where condensed water appears in the instrument's holes.
Bliss has a substantial recording catalog that began in 2004 with the recital Music for clarinet and piano, recorded with Julien Quentin. He has recorded mostly for EMI and Signum Classics, issuing an album featuring the Brahms Clarinet Sonatas, Op. 120, on the latter label with pianist James Baillieu in 2021.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Discography
18 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Mozart & Weber: Clarinet Quintets
Carducci String Quartet, Julian Bliss
Chamber Music - Released by Signum Records on 26 Oct 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Julian Bliss: Nielsen Clarinet Concerto, Mozart Clarinet Concerto
Concertos - Released by Signum Records on 15 Sep 2014
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Julian Bliss: A Tribute to Benny Goodman
Julian Bliss, The Julian Bliss Septet
Jazz - Released by Signum Records on 4 Jun 2012
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Shepherd on the Rock: Chamber Works and Lieder by Brahms, Chopin, Schubert, Schumann and Strauss
Julian Bliss, Ailish Tynan, Christopher Glynn
Chamber Music - Released by Signum Records on 9 Oct 2015
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
I Got Rhythm
The Julian Bliss Septet, Julian Bliss
Jazz - Released by Signum Records on 12 Feb 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Psycho: Suite for String Quartet
Classical - Released by Signum Records on 1 Nov 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
David Bruce: Gumboots - Brahms: Clarinet Quintet
Julian Bliss, Carducci String Quartet
Chamber Music - Released by Signum Records on 15 Apr 2016
Gramophone Editor's Choice24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms : Sonatas
Chamber Music - Released by Signum Records on 7 May 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Steve Reich: New York Counterpoint / Marc Mellits: Black
Classical - Released by Signum Records on 30 Sep 2016
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Poulenc, Messager, Horovitz, Jeanjean, Françaix, Martinů & Bassi: Music for Clarinet and Piano
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mackey: Asphalt Cocktail | Whitacre: October | Ticheli: Blue Shades (Arr, for Clarinet and Percussion)
Chamber Music - Released by Signum Records on 11 Jun 2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Julian Bliss & Bradley Moore: Works by Debussy, Glinka, Milhaud, Françaix & Prokofiev
Chamber Music - Released by Signum Records on 5 May 2014
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
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Divine Mischief: Concerto for Clarinet: III. Spellbound
Julian Bliss, Baylor University Wind Ensemble, J. Eric Wilson
Classical - Released by Signum Records on 23 Jan 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
I Got Rhythm
The Julian Bliss Septet, Julian Bliss
Jazz - Released by Signum Records on 12 Jan 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Sonata in F Minor, Op. 120 No. 1: I. Allegro appassionato
Chamber Music - Released by Signum Records on 3 Apr 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Embraceable You
The Julian Bliss Septet, Julian Bliss
Jazz - Released by Signum Records on 26 Jan 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Sonata in E-Flat Major, Op. 120 No. 2: II. Allegro appassionato
Chamber Music - Released by Signum Records on 20 Apr 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo