Blake Pouliot

Pouliot was born in Toronto, Canada. At age seven he began violin lessons at The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, where he studied music theory, violin, and piano throughout his elementary and high school years, attaining his ARCT diploma.[1]

During his youth he was a member of a string quartet, a pop rock group, several school bands, and was concertmaster of a number of orchestras including the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra, the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, and the Youth Orchestra of the Americas.[2][3] He also appeared in two short movies, performed in a television series,[4] and did a private performance for the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper.[5]

After high school he attended the Colburn School in Los Angeles, California.[6]

At age eleven Pouliot made his orchestral debut with the Trinity Strings Orchestra of Toronto. This was followed by solo performances with orchestras such as the Aspen Philharmonic Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Center Orchestra, Pacific Symphony, the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra in Bulgaria, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and the Colburn Orchestra at Walt Disney Concert Hall; he performed under conductors including Sir Neville Marriner,[7] Nicolas McGegan,[8] Vasily Petrenko,[9] Carl St. Clair,[10] Alain Trudel,[11] and Hugh Wolff.[12] He shared the stage with a wide variety of artists from Yo Yo Ma to Diana Ross,[13] and was featured on radio broadcasts including CBC Radio[14] and as Young Artist in Residence at Minnesota Public Radio’s Performance Today.[15][16]

Upon completing his university studies at the Colburn Conservatory in 2018, he signed a management contract with Opus3 Artists of New York for worldwide representation.[17] That same year he recorded his first album for Analekta Records,[18] which was nominated for a 2019 Juno Award,[19] Canada’s equivalent of a Grammy.

Pouliot's awards include first prize and Grand Prize at the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal (OSM) Manulife Competition,[20] Dorothy Delay Award, Aspen,[21] Grand Prize from the Canadian Federation of Music Festivals,[22] and the Canada Council Michael Measures and Virginia Parker Prizes.[23] As top honoree for the Musical Instrument Bank Competition he performs on a 1729 Guarneri del Gesu violin on loan from the Canada Council of the Arts.[24]

Pouliot lives in Los Angeles.[25]

• Official website