VC ARTIST
Violinist Blake Pouliot
Born On January 31, 1994
Born in Canada
United States
Violin 1729 Guarneri del Gesù, on generous loan from the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank
Bow Dominique Peccatte
Education
Colburn School
Teachers
Robert Lipsett | Marie Berard | Erika Raum
Notable awards/competitions won
Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank Competition Winner
2019 Juno Award nomination for Best Classical Album
Women’s Club of TorontoCareer Development Award
Canada Arts Council Virginia Parker Prize Career Grant
Orchestre symphonique de Montréal Manulife Competition Grand Prize Winner
Blake's season features upcoming solo performances of Bruch Scottish Fantasy as well as the Korngold, Khachaturian, and Tchaikovsky Violin Concertos.
"A Passionate, Unique and Charismatic Performer"
-The Violin Channel
A graduate student of Robert Lipsett at the Colburn School, Blake is a former 1st prize winner of the 2016 Montreal Symphony Orchestra Manulife Strings Competition.
In recent years, Blake has made his debut with the Atlanta, Detroit, Dallas, Madison, Montreal, Toronto, San Francisco, and Seattle Symphonies, among many others.
In the 2020/21 season, Pouliot was the Artist-in-Residence at Orchestre Métropolitain with the orchestra’s music director, Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
What is something your generation does that you hate?
One thing my generation does that I wish were different is how much we all rely on our phones all the time. I try to unplug when i can so i'm not always accessible and feel like I can be off the grid. Sometimes a little too often which is my mistake.
Who would you nominate to have their own reality tv show?
I would nominate all competing classical agencies to have a reality show.
What is something that has sparked joy for you in the past year?
Something that sparked joy for me in the past year and during the pandemic was I started taking up Olympic Weightlifting. It was a sport I was always fascinated by, and the pandemic allowed me to take proper instruction and develop it into my favorite hobby.
What are some challenges you have faced during your study of classical music?
One of the toughest things I experienced in my musical studies was the constant thought in my mind of comparing my playing to everyone around me, and to every soloist I'd heard. Although I think a point of reference is essential to growth, it took so much longer to validate my own thoughts and musical voice and I wish I had spent more time sooner focusing on my own interpretations of things. Once I began focusing more on my musical instincts things seemed to feel a lot better, and I began to feel more confident.
