Julian Bliss

International Visiting Professor of Clarinet

Julian Bliss is one of the world’s leading clarinettists, performing internationally as a concerto soloist, chamber musician, recitalist and jazz artist. Renowned for his exceptional musicianship and versatility, he has appeared with many of the world’s leading orchestras and at major concert halls and festivals across Europe, the Americas, Asia and Australasia.

Bliss began playing the clarinet at the age of four and later studied in the United States at Indiana University before continuing his studies in Germany with the celebrated clarinettist Sabine Meyer.

His discography includes a recent recording of clarinet concertos by Magnus Lindberg and Kalevi Aho with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Taavi Oramo. The recording won the 2026 BBC Music Magazine Award in the Concerto category, with The Guardian praising Bliss’s playing as “absolutely immaculate… the most extreme technical demands hold no terrors for him”. His other recordings include an album of music by Clara Schumann and Robert Schumann, and the sonatas of Johannes Brahms, both with pianist James Baillieu; and the clarinet quintets of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Carl Maria von Weber with the Carducci Quartet.

Bliss is also committed to music education, giving masterclasses worldwide, and is a performing artist for Buffet Crampon and Vandoren.