By Mark Taylor

Most four–year-olds are trying out the tricycle, or stacking blocks, but not Julian Bliss. That was the age he started playing the clarinet, one that had to be specially made for children. His talent was quickly noticed in his home of St Albans, Hertfordshire in the UK, and within a couple years he found himself making television appearances and being called a child prodigy. 

In 1997 he began studying at The Purcell School for Young Musicians. By age 12, Bliss earned his Postgraduate Artist's Diploma from Indiana University, although he was not awarded his diploma until he graduated from high school. 

Bliss’ child prodigy years have blossomed into a long-lasting and successful career in music. Now in his early 30s, Bliss has been called one of the world’s finest clarinet players. A celebrated concerto soloist, chamber musician, jazz artist, recording artist, and self-described tireless musical explorer. He’s performed for the queen of England, with dozens of top-tier orchestras around the globe, won numerous awards, and inspired a new generation of young musicians.

The world-renowned clarinet player recently gave a masterclass at SFCM. He also visited with the SFCM newsroom where he shared his wisdom, broad music tastes, and his approach to practice and performance. 

Tell us about your introduction to music?

I first started playing the clarinet when I was 4. I come from a non-musical family so I am not sure where my interest came from. At that age I started to express an interest in music, but I didn’t know what instrument I wanted to play. Eventually my parents took me to the local music school and I tried pretty much every instrument imaginable. Pretty quickly I knew that I wanted to play a wind instrument and when I was given the clarinet I was hooked. I guess the rest is history!

What are you currently listening to?

As I sit here typing this…Oscar Peterson. My musical taste is pretty eclectic and I listen to everything from Classical through Jazz and all the way to Heavy metal. On the classical side, I’ve been listening to a lot of Schumann and Rachmaninov recently. I am always trying to find new pieces to programme and arrange and I really enjoy discovering new works that I haven’t heard before. That's the benefit of Spotify and Apple Music, everything is right at your fingertips.  

How do you prepare for performances?

The preparation for performing starts as soon as you open the piece of music for the very first time. Often I feel musicians aren’t disciplined enough to really take their time and practice very slowly when learning something new. I like to take it page by page and practice with a metronome. Set the metronome slow enough that you do not make any mistakes. Pay attention to any difficult passages and really try to be very methodical. Ideally, I feel that you want to get to a stage where you don’t really consciously think about the technical aspect of what you’re playing. It’s so engrained in your mind that the mechanical part becomes almost subconscious. In my opinion, this allows you to solely focus on making music. It allows you more capacity to listen to what else is happening, how the other musicians are playing and be active in phrasing, dynamics and other musical ideas. That is when a performance comes alive. In regards to the day of a concert, I tend to take it pretty easy. After the dress rehearsal I try to take a short nap and just sit quietly and relax. Then it's just a case of making sure I've got a good reed and away we go! I am quite lucky that I don’t get nervous before a performance. There is adrenaline of course, but for me, I just want to get out there and play. I love being in front of an audience. 

You performed for the Queen of England at 12, what was that experience like? 

I'm not sure I have the right words to describe it! I remember arriving on the day of the concert and I knew it was a very big deal. There were a lot of security measures in place and everyone had their own cabin as a dressing room. I remember it being quite surreal. You could step outside of your dressing room and just wander around the gardens of Buckingham palace!. I remember the dress rehearsal and thinking that there were a lot of chairs out there but I was pretty calm. The afternoon was taken up with all sorts of interviews and promotional activities before getting ready for the concert. Because it was televised to multiple countries, it ran like clockwork. I remember waiting by the side of the stage and then walking out to about 12,000 people in the audience and the whole Royal Family. In that moment I got that shivers up the spine feeling, I will never forget it. I remember finishing the piece and standing there taking in the applause. I loved it. I think it was at that moment that I knew that this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I got to meet the Queen afterwards and she said she liked my performance, so that's good!

What advice do you have for young musician’s today?

Don’t give up. It is not easy and there will definitely be times that you have low motivation, or you don’t feel you are getting any better. It's the hard work behind closed doors that really pays off. Sometimes the best musicians in the world make it look easy, but that is only because they have spent countless hours practicing very methodically, slowly and with discipline. When practicing I always ask myself, ‘Was that as good as it could have been?’ And if the answer is no, do it again. The problem is that it could always be better!

Any funny performance stories you can share?

If I play from music then these days I use an iPad. It’s so convenient and you can have your whole music library on one device. You don’t have to worry about lighting, it's smaller than a music stand, I could go on. I remember once during a concert a gentleman in the front row took a picture whilst we were playing. I thought it was a little odd, but just carried on. About 20 seconds later a notification came up on my iPad. He was trying to Airdrop me the photo he’d just taken! I do know others that have forgotten to turn airplane mode on before a concert, and one got a FaceTime call from their mum halfway through the piece!

What would you tell your younger self?

That's a good question. Probably to pay more attention at school! Music was always my focus and as such that is all I wanted to do. Sometimes that was at the detriment to math homework, or any homework in general! I think I would tell myself the same thing I would tell any young person. If you are doing what you love, and you couldn’t imagine doing anything else in the world then don’t stop. Keep working and putting yourself out there and it will pay off.

What are you most excited about in the future of music?

I really enjoy working with other musicians to create something entirely new. That is what is exciting. To go from discussing an idea or concept to presenting it to an audience. I also want to commission more new works for the instrument and keep expanding the repertoire. I am also trying to do whatever I can to help inspire young people to be involved in music and to make music accessible for everyone.

Learn more about studying woodwinds at SFCM.