Lately, the Billboard Hot 100 charts have been full of synthesized, lyrical pop or hip-hop hits. With the radio overflow of modern artists, teens and young adults can easily forget the sound of a basic instrument.
British-born, 26-year-old Julian Bliss visited the fourth period band class at Crown Point High School on March 5 to share the story of his musical journey as a clarinetist and clarinet designer.
Bliss, idolized by many worldwide, spoke to the students about his profession and musical background. He discovered his interest in music at age 4 when presented with a recorder, which he soon outgrew. After trying many other instruments, including the bassoon — which was impractical for him at his age due to his height, he realized he was most interested in the clarinet.
“I remember then, a vivid memory of being on the way home in the car playing just the mouthpiece,” Bliss said, describing the day he brought home his first clarinet. “My parents were trying to drive home and I think they were thinking, ‘Now what have we done. We have made a massive mistake. Turn the car around, we’re taking it back,’” he said with a laugh, reminiscing on the event that became the catalyst of his professional career.
He related to the young musicians by discussing his past concert experiences and the emotions he had experienced before performing. Bliss took advantage of opportunities to play in front of thousands of people, even at an early age. At age 6, he played in front of 600 attendees of Prince Phillip’s birthday celebration at Buckingham Palace. He also played at Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee at age 12 in front of an audience of 12,000, and he has played multiple performances which were aired on television in some cases in more than 40 different countries.
“I wasn’t nervous,” Bliss said, reflecting on his first televised performance. He said that at his age he was more excited to be backstage at a television studio. “A lot of musicians have been playing for 20, 30, 40 years even and they still get nervous… but I wasn't scared at all, not in the slightest.” Bliss explained that the reason for his lack of self-doubt was because he never considered the possibility of failure.
“I never thought about having a career as a musician (at such a young age),” Bliss said. Although while performing at the Golden Jubilee, Bliss remembers thinking that “this right here is what I want to do for the rest of my life.”
Bliss spoke to the students about the frustration of desiring to improve significantly and quickly, but he emphasized the importance of practice and advised them not to give up despite the hardships they encounter.
“Whatever you guys decide to do in life, whether it is a career in music or not, it will be difficult,” Bliss said. “But it’s all worthwhile.”
He described the frustration he felt when his teachers instructed him to practice scales. “I used to think, ‘I’m a musician. We play music. We don’t go on stage and play scales. I want to learn how to play music, not waste my time playing scales,’” Bliss said. “But then I realized that like 90-something percent of all music is scales.”
In fact, Bliss proved his statement by playing a piece that is based on one chromatic scale. He played Flight of the Bumblebee wherein he also demonstrated the circular breathing technique. Circular breathing is the act of inhaling through the nose while blowing air through the lips. This is a skill that many woodwind instrument players practice in order to play their instrument without the interruption of having to inhale through the mouth.
Besides practice, Bliss also stressed the vitality of an appropriate presentation on stage. He told the students that once they walk on stage, they are in complete control. According to Bliss, it is crucial to walk confidently, take a proper bow and smile.
“I always say to people, ‘No matter who you play for, whether there are only five people in the audience…one of those people could be the most important and influential people you will ever meet in your life,’” Bliss said, giving the student musicians a reason to take their careers seriously. “That’s why you should treat every single concert as important as the one before and the one after.”
Through the duration of his presentation on the auditorium stage, Bliss instilled his empowering ideals in the student musicians. Junior and clarinet player Susan Szymanski was especially inspired by Bliss and his musical abilities. “Seeing a professional play your instrument makes you happy that you chose that instrument because you see them and they sound so beautiful, and they’re so talented. You just think ‘That’s what this instrument can do, that’s what I can do with this instrument,’” Szymanski said. “His playing was very inspiring for me. It just reminded me that this instrument is beautiful and it’s inside me, the power to create this beautiful music.”
CPHS student journalist Evi Lovin took the picture and wrote the article.