Nick van Bloss

Nick van Bloss was born in London and began piano lessons at the age of 11. His musical training began as a chorister at Westminster Abbey and he entered the Royal College of Music at the age of 15 as a Junior, attending full time from the age of 17, studying with Yonty Solomon and winning prizes for his playing. Further studies were with Benjamin Kaplan. 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.


Producer Michael Haas, says that "in polyphonic music, such as Bach, Nick offers a superhuman degree of precision and individuality with each voice, while never losing overall transparency", and who feels that van Bloss's Chopin and Rachmaninov are characterised by a "crystalline solidity" which enables him to build and shape works with total security and "achieve a near-perfect balance between vibrancy of keyboard playing and sweep of musical vision".

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, van Bloss has performed in the UK and the United Stated, with the English Chamber Orchestra, and directing concertos from the keyboard. He has also released two universally acclaimed CD recordings (Bach: Goldberg Variations and Bach; Keyboard Concertos with the English Chamber Orchestra) for Nimbus Records as part of a long-term agreement. His third CD, of major works by Chopin, will be released in November 2012. Future concerts include a concert tour of Japan, a tour of Germany and Austria (Chopin Concertos), Miami International Festival. A feature film about Nick's life is currently in development.

J.S. Bach Keyboard Concertos Bach Goldberg Variations