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Andrew Bliss (Knoxville, TN) is a virtuosic percussionist and dedicated educator whose artistry spans contemporary classical, global, and experimental traditions. As Director of Percussion Studies at the University of Tennessee, he shapes the next generation of percussion artists while maintaining an active international performance career that has taken him from intimate venues to prestigious festivals worldwide, including Germany’s Darmstadt Summer Course and Argentina’s Patagonia Percussion Festival.
A champion of contemporary music, Bliss has collaborated with renowned composers including Carolyn Chen, Christopher Burns, Kendall Williams, Mark Applebaum, John Luther Adams, and many others. His versatility as a performer is demonstrated through appearances with Grammy-winning ensemble Roomful of Teeth, the Kronos Quartet, and as a featured soloist performing Avner Dorman’s Spices, Perfumes, Toxins! with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. His innovative productions include conducting a live film score for Brimstone & Glory and directing a 100-person ensemble for Michael Pisaro’s A wave and waves at the Big Ears Festival and other prestigious venues.
As founder and artistic director of the Nief-Norf Summer Festival, Bliss has created a vital platform for contemporary musical innovation, bringing together emerging composers, performers, and scholars from around the world. His impact on percussion education extends through his widely-adopted method book Multitudes (Musicon Publications) and his service to the Percussive Arts Society, where he has held multiple leadership positions including two terms on the Board of Directors.
Bliss is a Yamaha Performing Artist. He holds degrees from Northern Illinois University and the University of Kentucky, where he studied under distinguished mentors including James Campbell, Rich Holly, and Robert Chappell.