Blake Pouliot Explained

Blake Pouliot
Birth Date:31 January 1994
Birth Place:Toronto, Canada
Origin:Toronto
Instrument:Violin

Blake Pouliot (born January 31, 1994) is a Juno-nominated Canadian professional classical violinist. Pouliot is currently Soloist-in-Residence at the Orchestre Métropolitain in Montreal.[1]

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 in Toronto.[2]

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 National Youth Orchestra of Canada, and the Youth Orchestra of the Americas.[3] [4]

Pre-college he studied violin in Toronto with Marie Berard and Erika Raum before completing his Graduate Violin Performance Diploma at the Colburn School Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles, under the tutorage of violinist Robert Lipsett.[5]

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, National Arts Center Orchestra, Pacific Symphony, Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and the Colburn Orchestra. He has performed under conductors including Sir Neville Marriner,[6] Nicolas McGegan,[7] Vasily Petrenko,[8] Carl St. Clair,[9] Alain Trudel,[10] and Hugh Wolff,[11] and has performed with Yo Yo Ma and Diana Ross.[12]

Pouliot has been featured on radio broadcasts including CBC Radio[13] and served as Minnesota Public Radio's Performance Today's "Young Artist-in-Residence."[14]

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.[15] 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.[16] In 2021, he joined the Orchestre Métropolitain in Montreal, under musical director Yannick Nézet-Séguin.[17]

Awards and recognition

Pouliot's accolades include the Grand Prize at the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal (OSM) Manulife Competition,[18] the Dorothy Delay Aspen Festival Prize,[19] the Grand Prize at the Canadian Federation of Music Festivals,[20] and the Canada Council for the Arts Michael Measures and Virginia Parker Prizes.[21]

As the top honoree at the 2015[22] 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[23] violin — previously performed on by fellow Canadian countrymen, Timothy Chooi and Nikki Chooi. He has twice been featured on CBC’s "30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians under 30" list.[24]

Personal

Pouliot lives in Los Angeles.[25]

He is known for the bright coloured ‘rock star’ clothing which he often enjoys wearing on stage during performances.[26] Pouliot also appeared in two short movies in acting roles, performed in a television series,[27] and played a private recital for the former Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper.[28]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Blake Pouliot & Yannick Nézet-Séguin. 2021-11-14. Orchestre Metropolitain. en-CA.
  2. Web site: Recognizing Achievement - Canada - The Royal Conservatory of Music. rcmusic.com.
  3. Web site: 2018 Gala. orchestraoftheamericas.org. 2019-06-06.
  4. Web site: Blake Pouliot – The Orchestra of the Americas. en-US. 2019-06-06.
  5. Web site: Blake Pouliot. 2021-11-08. LA Phil. en.
  6. Web site: Ginell . Richard S. . 2015-01-19 . Review: Ageless Neville Marriner leads the Colburn Orchestra . 2023-06-14 . Los Angeles Times . en-US.
  7. Joseph K So, "This week In Toronto", La Scena Musicale, (Nov. 22, 2010), https://pasadenasymphony-pops.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/17-18-Pasadena-Symphony-Classics-Season-Announcement.pdf
  8. Christophe Huss, "Blake Pouliot vole le "show" au dompter d’orchestres", Le Devoir, (Feb. 23, 2017).
  9. Web site: Pacific Symphony : Detail. www.pacificsymphony.org.
  10. Web site: Musical Geniuses. Toledo Symphony Orchestra.
  11. Web site: MusicalAmerica - Press Releases. www.musicalamerica.com.
  12. Peter Robb, "NAC Gala: Stringing along with rising violin star Blake Pouliot", Artsfile, (Oct 1, 2018), Lynn Saxberg, "Concert Review: Diana Ross helps raise more than $780,000 at NAC Gala", Ottawa Citizen,(Oct. 5, 2018)
  13. Web site: Music Mondays. www.musicmondays.ca.
  14. Web site: Young Artist in Residence: Blake Pouliot Your Classical YourClassical. 2017-10-13. www.yourclassical.org. 2019-06-06.
  15. Web site: Blake Pouliot drops his debut album, wins $20K prize . 2023-06-14 . CBC Music.
  16. Robert Rowat, "Classical Junos: Who should win the solo/chamber category?" CBC Music Junos, (Feb. 28, 2019), https://junoawards.ca/nomination/2019-classical-album-of-the-year-solo-or-chamber-blake-pouliot-with-hsin-i-huang/ "Canadian 2019 Juno Music Award Nominees Announced – INC. VC Young Artist Blake Pouliot", Classical Music News, (Feb. 4 2019). https://theviolinchannel.com/2019-canadian-juno-music-award-nominations-announced-james-ehnes-blake-pouliot/
  17. Web site: Blake Pouliot & Yannick Nézet-Séguin. 2021-11-14. Orchestre Metropolitain. en-CA.
  18. Olivier Gentil, "OSM Manulife Competition", La Scena Musicale, (Oct. 12, 2017), BWW News Desk, "Royal Conservatory Alumnus Blake Pouliot Wins Grand Prize at OSM Manulife Competition", Broadway World, Toronto, (Nov. 28, 2016)
  19. Laura Smith, "Aspen Music Festival and School Announces 2016 Season", Musical America Worldwide, (Feb. 8, 2016).
  20. The Pictou Advocate, Vol. 118, No. 34 (Au. 24, 2011) p. 8.http://www.nbfmf.org/FCMF_2011_all_winners_Press_Release_NB_higlighted.pdf
  21. Trish Crawford, "Toronto Violinist Blake Pouliot wins $15,000 Canada Council Michael Measure Prize", Toronto Star (Fri. August 9, 2013); Russell, "Blake Pouliot wins Virginia Parker Prize", Festival Musique de Chambre Montreal, (Nov. 23, 2018).
  22. Web site: 2015-09-28T00:00:00+01:00. Canada's Musical Instrument Bank names 2015 recipients of fine stringed instruments. 2021-11-14. The Strad. en.
  23. Web site: Blake Pouliot. Musical Instrument Bank.
  24. Web site: Chandler. Justin. August 8, 2017. 30 hot Canadian classical musicians under 30, 2017 edition. live. CBC. https://web.archive.org/web/20190808024356/https://www.cbc.ca/music/read/30-hot-canadian-classical-musicians-under-30-2017-edition-1.5005008 . 2019-08-08 .
  25. Peter Robb, "NAC Gala: Stringing along with rising violin star Blake Pouliot", Artsfile, (Oct 1, 2018)https://artsfile.ca/nac-gala-stringing-along-with-rising-violin-star-blake-pouliot/
  26. Web site: 2019-05-17. Conductor Pablo Heras-Casado leaves his mark on exciting Brahms and Berlioz performance by the DSO. 2021-11-12. Dallas News. en.
  27. Web site: Blake Pouliot. IMDb.
  28. Web site: Guest Musician Spotlight: Blake Pouliot. 28 November 2014 .

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