Nick van Bloss

Van Bloss's recording of five Keyboard Concertos by Bach with the English Chamber Orchestra was released in 2011 by Nimbus Records as NI 6141. It was followed in 2013 by a Chopin disc containing the Sonata in B minor, Op 58 and the 24 Preludes Op 28 (NI 6215) and in 2015 by a Beethoven CD containing the Diabelli Variations Op 120 and the Sonata in F minor, Op 57 Appassionata (NI 6276). In the booklet issued with the last-mentioned CD (page 11) a further recording of music by Schumann, Kreisleriana and the Etudes Symphoniques Op 13, is announced as due for release in November 2015.

In January 2010, van Bloss released a recording of the Goldberg Variations by Bach by Nimbus Records which received widespread acclaim from critics

After 15 years of 'retirement' from professional and public life, van Bloss made a comeback concert on 28 April 2009 at London's Cadogan Hall playing a concerto by Bach and the Emperor Concerto by Beethoven with the English Chamber Orchestra This concert received enormous media attention and was described as a 'triumph' by London critics.

In April 2007, Nick van Bloss was the focus of a BBC Horizon documentary called Mad but Glad. The programme follows van Bloss on a journey of self-discovery, in which he hopes to find the answer to the old question, "Is there such a thing as the mad genius?" In particular, van Bloss seeks to find whether his talent for the piano might have in some way been caused or enhanced by his Tourette's. Van Bloss meets many other "afflicted" people on his journey, with conditions such as autism, schizophrenia and automatic writing, all of whom show an unusual and unexplained talent in an art form. He also speaks with clinicians about his condition and the musical connection, notably Oliver Sacks. The programme ends with van Bloss being asked whether, given the severity of his Tourette's, he would ever consider playing in public again.

In 2007, Oliver Sacks wrote about Nick van Bloss in his book Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain. Sacks writes that in conversation with van Bloss about his piano playing and Tourette's, van Bloss speaks in terms of his condition's constituting an "energy", one that is "harnessed and focused" when he plays the piano. In a paradoxical way, Sacks says, Tourette's plays an essential role in Nick's piano playing.

At the College, van Bloss excelled, but was held back by his tics and his condition, which still was undiagnosed. He studied with Yonty Solomon and won numerous prizes. In a master-class held at the Royal College of Music in 1987, the Russian pianist Tatiana Nikolayeva described van Bloss as "already a pianist". However, his relationship with the College was unhappy. He was in constant conflict with College authorities, who, he felt, appreciated neither his talent nor the difficulties that accompanied living under his condition.

Nick van Bloss (born 1967) is an English classical pianist and author who has Tourette syndrome. He studied at the Royal College of Music in London.