Blake Pouliot (born January 31, 1994) is a Juno-nominated Canadian professional classical violinist. Pouliot is currently Soloist-in-Residence at the

Orchestre Métropolitain The Orchestre Métropolitain (, OM) is a symphony orchestra in Montréal, Québec, formed in 1981. It performs primarily in the Montreal Symphony House at Place des Arts but also at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier and Théâtre Maisonneuve. Outside th ...

in Montreal.

Early life and education

Pouliot was born in Toronto, Canada. At age seven he began violin, piano and theory lessons at

The Royal Conservatory of Music The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM; ), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher as The Toronto C ...

in Toronto. During his schooling years he was a member of a local string quartet and pop rock group and he served as Concertmaster of the

Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra The Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra (TSYO) is an orchestral training programme for musicians under 22, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The TSYO is led by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra's RBC Resident Conductor, Trevor Wilson, and coached by T ...

, the

National Youth Orchestra of Canada The National Youth Orchestra of Canada (NYO Canada, or NYOC, ) is a Canadian youth orchestra headquartered in Toronto. The orchestra has given concert tours in every major Canadian city as well as trips to other countries, including the United Sta ...

, and the Youth Orchestra of the Americas. Pre-college he studied violin in Toronto with Marie Berard and Erika Raum before completing his Graduate Violin Performance Diploma at the

Colburn School The Colburn School is a private performing arts school in Los Angeles with a focus on music and dance. It consists of four divisions: the Conservatory of Music, Music Academy, Community School of Performing Arts and the Trudl Zipper Dance Instit ...

Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles, under the tutorage of violinist

Robert Lipsett Robert Crawford Lipsett Jr. (born October 23, 1947) is an American violin teacher in Los Angeles, California. He holds the Jascha Heifetz Distinguished Violin Chair at the Colburn School. He also serves on the faculty at the Aspen School of Music ...

Career

At age eleven Pouliot made his orchestral solo debut with the Trinity Strings Orchestra of Toronto. This was followed by solo performances with orchestras including the Aspen Philharmonic Orchestra,

Montreal Symphony Orchestra The Montreal Symphony Orchestra () is a Canadian symphony orchestra based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The orchestra’s home is the Montreal Symphony House at Place des Arts. History Several orchestras were precursor ensembles to the curren ...

, National Arts Center Orchestra,

Pacific Symphony The Pacific Symphony is a symphony orchestra based in Orange County, California. The orchestra performs at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall as a part of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California. From 1987 to 2016 ...

Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra The Sofia Philharmonic (Bulgarian language, Bulgarian: Софийска филхармония) was founded in 1893. The current music director is Nayden Todorov. The Sofia Philharmonic includes the National Philharmonic Orchestra, National Ph ...

Toronto Symphony Orchestra The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1906, the TSO gave regular concerts at Massey Hall until 1982, and since then has performed at Roy Thomson Hall. The TSO also manages the Toron ...

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The VSO performs at the Orpheum, which has been the orchestra's permanent home since 1977. With an annual operating budget of $16 million, it is ...

, and the Colburn Orchestra. He has performed under conductors including Sir Neville Marriner, Nicolas McGegan, Vasily Petrenko, Carl St. Clair, Alain Trudel, and Hugh Wolff, and has performed with Yo Yo Ma and Diana Ross. Pouliot has been featured on radio broadcasts including CBC Radio and served as Minnesota Public Radio's ''

Performance Today ''Performance Today'' is a classical music radio program, first aired in 1987 and hosted since 2000 by Fred Child. It is the most listened-to daily classical music radio program in the United States, with 1.2 million listeners on 237 stations. ...

's "''Young Artist-in-Residence." His 2018–2019 season included debut concerto performances with the Detroit, Dallas, Milwaukee, San Francisco, and Seattle Symphony Orchestras. In 2019, Pouliot released his first album with pianist Hsin-I Huang under the ''Analekta Records label.'' Featuring both the Ravel Violin Sonata No. 2 in G and the Debussy Violin Sonata in G Minor, the album was nominated for the 2019 "Best Classical Album Solo/Chamber Ensemble'

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

. In 2021, he joined the

in Montreal, under musical director

Yannick Nézet-Séguin Yannick Nézet-Séguin, CC (; born Yannick Séguin;David Patrick Stearns, "Nezet-Seguin signs Philadelphia Orchestra contract". ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', 19 June 2010. 6 March 1975) is a Canadian conductor and pianist. He is the music dir ...

Awards and recognition

Pouliot's accolades include the Grand Prize at the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal (OSM) Manulife Competition, the Dorothy Delay Aspen Festival Prize, the Grand Prize at the Canadian Federation of Music Festivals, and the Canada Council for the Arts Michael Measures and Virginia Parker Prizes. As the top honoree at the 2015 and the 2018 Canada Council of the Arts Musical Instrument Bank Competition, he was awarded the six year loan of a 1729

Guarneri del Gesu Bartolomeo Giuseppe "del Gesù" Guarneri (, , ; 21 August 1698 – 17 October 1744) was an Italian luthier from the Guarneri family of Cremona. He rivals Antonio Stradivari (1644–1737) with regard to the respect and reverence accorded his inst ...

violin — previously performed on by fellow Canadian countrymen,

Timothy Chooi Timothy Chooi is a Canadian violinist and University of Ottawa professor of Chinese- Indonesian- Malaysian ethnic background. He won the First Prize at the 2018 International Joseph Joachim Violin Competition and Second Prize at the 2019 Qu ...

and

Nikki Chooi Nikki Chooi (born January 31, 1989) is a Canadian classical violinist. Chooi is currently concertmaster of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. He previously served as concertmaster of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in New York. He is a prize w ...

. He has twice been featured on CBC’s "30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians under 30" list.

Personal

Pouliot lives in New York He is known for the bright coloured ‘rock star’ clothing which he often enjoys wearing on stage during performances. Pouliot also appeared in two short movies in acting roles, performed in a television series, and played a private recital for the former Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pouliot, Blake 1994 births Living people Canadian classical violinists Musicians from Toronto The Royal Conservatory of Music alumni Colburn School alumni Canadian expatriates in the United States 21st-century Canadian violinists and fiddlers Canadian male violinists and fiddlers