Nick van Bloss

Biography

Nick van Bloss was born in London and began piano lessons at the age of 11. His early musical training began as a chorister at Westminster Abbey and was followed by studies at the Royal College of Music with Yonty Solomon. In 1987, on hearing him play, the great Russian virtuoso, Tatiana Nikoleyeva, described van Bloss as the 'finished article of a pianist'.

In 1994, aged 26, Nick van Bloss played a televised recital in Poland at the Chopin Festival. This proved to be his last public appearance before he retired from playing completely for 15 years. During these years van Bloss rarely touched a piano, but he did write his autobiographical memoir 'Busy Body', which was published, to much acclaim, in 2006. The following year he was the subject of a BBC 'Horizon' documentary, inspired by his book, exploring his creativity. This documentary led to interest in his piano playing and, in 2008, he began a series of recordings with award-winning producer Michael Haas, beginning with Bach's monumental 'Goldberg' Variations, and including a recording of Bach's Keyboard Concertos with the English Chamber Orchestra. These recordings won unprecedented acclaim by critics: writing about van Bloss in International Piano Magazine, Jessica Duchen commented on the Goldberg Variations recording,‘A poetic, tender and vividly coloured performance that has had critics clawing at superlatives’. And, in a recent programme on BBC Radio 3 dedicated to all recordings of the Variations, presented by Sir Nicholas Kenyon, van Bloss’ recording was chosen in the 'final four' alongside Schiff, Gould and Perahia.

In April 2009, van Bloss made a 'comeback' concert at London's Cadogan Hall, playing a concerto by Bach and Beethoven's 'Emperor' Concerto with the English Chamber Orchestra. The concert, uniformly reviewed as a 'Triumph' by London's critics, attracted massive media interest from all over the globe.

Since then, Nick van Bloss has performed in the United States, Japan, Sweden, Austria, with the English Chamber Orchestra, and conducted concertos from the keyboard. His future recording schedule, as part of a long-term relationship with Nimbus Records, will feature Schumann’s Kreisleriana and Etudes Symphoniques, to be released in November 2015, followed by late Sonatas of Beethoven.

nickvanbloss.com