Nick Van Bloss, pianist with Tourette Syndrome, in first concert since 1994
April 28, 2009
by Lucy Bannerman
Condition is a blessing as well as a curse, musician says, for 15 years the celebrated concert pianist Nick Van Bloss played to an empty room.
Overwhelmed by the Tourette syndrome that racked his body and wrecked his career, the former child prodigy abruptly abandoned public life and went to live alone in Lisbon. His crumbling mansion would resonate with the sound of Beethoven and Bach. Night after night, amid the faded grandeur of this dusty, high-ceilinged hall, Van Bloss would make music no one but himself could hear.
In April, 2009, the wilderness years will finally have come to an end when he plays in front of 900 people at the Cadogan Hall, Chelsea, England. It will be his first public performance since 1994.
?It?s a complete turnaround after all those years playing fabulously to no one,? Van Bloss, 41, tells The Times. He speaks quickly and passionately. ?There is not a moment away from the piano when a muscle in my body is not contracting, or contorting,? he says, estimating that his body twitches and twists with the effects of Tourette?s 40,000 times a day. ?It?s like something alien inside you, constantly pushing and pulling to get out. Muscles clamp up. Teeth break. Eyes get very sore, from all the rolling. It is a pretty painful experience.?
As soon as his fingers touch the piano keys, however, the tics cease. ?I like to think of them sitting on deckchairs and enjoying the music. It shuts them up,? he says. ?For a few seconds before I start to play, I experience what it is like to feel that wonderful word: normal.?
Van Bloss was seven when he woke one day to find he was shaking uncontrollably. From that point his body was held hostage by vicious yelps and violent compulsions, but it was not until 21 ? ten years after taking up the piano ? that Tourette syndrome was correctly diagnosed.
After the suicide of his brother, whose own talent was hijacked by heroin addiction, Van Bloss shot through the ranks at the Royal College of Music. Despite the increasing ferocity of his symptoms, he joined the professional circuit. The piano, he says, is the closest thing he?ll ever find to an ?on-off? switch, and it is only in the demanding concertos that he finds true relaxation. ?It?s my recovery time.?
Then, while playing at a competition in Valencia, in his mid-20s, even that deserted him. ?I was suddenly aware of this sense I had never been aware of at the piano. My head started to shake, and my hands just shot up. I remember the collective gasp in the audience. I thought: ?Ok, you win. I?ll be the failure?.? Van Bloss recalls the disappointment of friends and family. ?I could see it in their eyes. There was a lot of pity, a sense of ?poor thing, he has given up on his dreams?.?
His only contact was with an elderly Portuguese neighbour, who would leave cakes at his door. So, at least she was able to appreciate the music? ?No,? he laughs. ?She was deaf.?
Would he be such an exceptional musician without Tourette syndrome? ?That?s the trick question. A lot of people keep saying I have this exceptional clarity, energy and control and I can only say that is due to Tourette?s.?
Van Bloss, who is also recovering from stage three lymphoma, diagnosed at 32, believes his condition is the reason he is so drawn to Bach. ?The controlled emotion of that music does something to me. It gives me a sense of order, that my body cannot.?
Exceptional musical ability has long been linked to neurological conditions. There was speculation that Mozart had Tourette syndrome. The well-documented mental health battle of the Australian pianist David Helfgott was told in the film Shine. Van Bloss is wary of his music being seen exclusively through the prism of his condition. ?There is always this danger that people will say, ?We?re going to hear that Tourette?s pianist tonight?. But, if they do come, music is what they?re going to get. They are not going to hear swearing. The voyeurs will not be satisfied.?
He appears calm on the eve of his comeback. ?I like to think I?m turning a negative into a positive. Tourette?s was the enemy, but I?ve learned to accept that it has also made me the musician I am today. It?s like being cursed and blessed at the same time.?
April 28, 2009
by Lucy Bannerman
Condition is a blessing as well as a curse, musician says, for 15 years the celebrated concert pianist Nick Van Bloss played to an empty room.
Overwhelmed by the Tourette syndrome that racked his body and wrecked his career, the former child prodigy abruptly abandoned public life and went to live alone in Lisbon. His crumbling mansion would resonate with the sound of Beethoven and Bach. Night after night, amid the faded grandeur of this dusty, high-ceilinged hall, Van Bloss would make music no one but himself could hear.
In April, 2009, the wilderness years will finally have come to an end when he plays in front of 900 people at the Cadogan Hall, Chelsea, England. It will be his first public performance since 1994.
?It?s a complete turnaround after all those years playing fabulously to no one,? Van Bloss, 41, tells The Times. He speaks quickly and passionately. ?There is not a moment away from the piano when a muscle in my body is not contracting, or contorting,? he says, estimating that his body twitches and twists with the effects of Tourette?s 40,000 times a day. ?It?s like something alien inside you, constantly pushing and pulling to get out. Muscles clamp up. Teeth break. Eyes get very sore, from all the rolling. It is a pretty painful experience.?
As soon as his fingers touch the piano keys, however, the tics cease. ?I like to think of them sitting on deckchairs and enjoying the music. It shuts them up,? he says. ?For a few seconds before I start to play, I experience what it is like to feel that wonderful word: normal.?
Van Bloss was seven when he woke one day to find he was shaking uncontrollably. From that point his body was held hostage by vicious yelps and violent compulsions, but it was not until 21 ? ten years after taking up the piano ? that Tourette syndrome was correctly diagnosed.
After the suicide of his brother, whose own talent was hijacked by heroin addiction, Van Bloss shot through the ranks at the Royal College of Music. Despite the increasing ferocity of his symptoms, he joined the professional circuit. The piano, he says, is the closest thing he?ll ever find to an ?on-off? switch, and it is only in the demanding concertos that he finds true relaxation. ?It?s my recovery time.?
Then, while playing at a competition in Valencia, in his mid-20s, even that deserted him. ?I was suddenly aware of this sense I had never been aware of at the piano. My head started to shake, and my hands just shot up. I remember the collective gasp in the audience. I thought: ?Ok, you win. I?ll be the failure?.? Van Bloss recalls the disappointment of friends and family. ?I could see it in their eyes. There was a lot of pity, a sense of ?poor thing, he has given up on his dreams?.?
His only contact was with an elderly Portuguese neighbour, who would leave cakes at his door. So, at least she was able to appreciate the music? ?No,? he laughs. ?She was deaf.?
Would he be such an exceptional musician without Tourette syndrome? ?That?s the trick question. A lot of people keep saying I have this exceptional clarity, energy and control and I can only say that is due to Tourette?s.?
Van Bloss, who is also recovering from stage three lymphoma, diagnosed at 32, believes his condition is the reason he is so drawn to Bach. ?The controlled emotion of that music does something to me. It gives me a sense of order, that my body cannot.?
Exceptional musical ability has long been linked to neurological conditions. There was speculation that Mozart had Tourette syndrome. The well-documented mental health battle of the Australian pianist David Helfgott was told in the film Shine. Van Bloss is wary of his music being seen exclusively through the prism of his condition. ?There is always this danger that people will say, ?We?re going to hear that Tourette?s pianist tonight?. But, if they do come, music is what they?re going to get. They are not going to hear swearing. The voyeurs will not be satisfied.?
He appears calm on the eve of his comeback. ?I like to think I?m turning a negative into a positive. Tourette?s was the enemy, but I?ve learned to accept that it has also made me the musician I am today. It?s like being cursed and blessed at the same time.?
