Described as “immaculate, at once refined and impassioned” (Arts Atlanta), violinist Blake Pouliot (pool-YACHT) has anchored himself among the ranks of classical phenoms. A tenacious young artist with a passion that enraptures his audience in every performance, Pouliot has established himself as “one of those special talents that come along once in a lifetime” (Toronto Star). 

As a soloist, Blake’s 2025-26 concerto highlights include a return to the National Arts Centre Orchestra to open their season with Music Director Alexander Shelley, performing Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1. He will make debuts with the Illinois Symphony, performing Rózsa’s Violin Concerto with Music Director Taichi Fukumura, and with the Columbus Symphony. Additional concerto appearances include Rochester Philharmonic, as well as a tour with the Prague Philharmonia in Spain and the U.S., culminating with a performance at Carnegie Hall, marking Blake’s Stern Auditorium debut. He continues to expand his presence abroad, performing with the Enescu Philharmonic in Romania and with Symphony Nova Scotia. Recital appearances this season include Newport Classical, Vancouver Chamber Music Society, Artist Series of Sarasota, and Portland Ovations with his long-time collaborator and pianist, Henry Kramer. As a chamber musician, Blake will perform at Bay Chamber Concerts, Spoleto, Cleveland Chamberfest, SummerFest in La Jolla, and Moab Music Festival. 

Recent performance highlights include debuts with the LA Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, San Diego Symphony, as well as the Houston Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony, Rhode Island Philharmonic, and the San Antonio Symphony. In Europe, Blake performed with the London Philharmonic and Alevtina Ioffe, Chamber Orchestra of Europe with conductor Mattias Pintscher and cellist Alisa Weilerstein, KYMI Sinfonietta and Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire. Recital performance highlights from last season included debuts at Carnegie Hall and La Jolla Music Society. 

During his time as Soloist-in-Residence of Orchestre Métropolitain in 2020/21, Pouliot and Yannick Nézet-Séguin performed Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 and Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons which led to Pouliot’s 2022 debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Kimmel Center, performing John Corigliano’s The Red Violin (Chaconne for Violin and Orchestra) with Nézet-Séguin. 

Highlights elsewhere include Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal in 2022/23, with Angela Hewitt and Bryan Cheng, as well as performances of the Paganini, Mendelssohn, Saint-Saëns concerti and Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy in subscription series across North America. 

Pouliot released his debut album of 20th-century French music on Analekta Records in 2019. Featuring Ravel’s Tzigane and Violin Sonata in G, Debussy’s Violin Sonata in G minor and Beau Soir, the recording received critical acclaim, including a five-star rating from BBC Music Magazine and a 2019 Juno Award nomination for Best Classical Album. 

Since his orchestral debut at age 11, Pouliot has performed with the orchestras of Aspen, Atlanta, Detroit, Dallas, Madison, Montreal, Toronto, San Francisco, and Seattle, among many others. Internationally, he has performed as a soloist with the Sofia Philharmonic in Bulgaria, the Orchestras of the Americas on its South American tour, and was the featured soloist for the first-ever joint tour of the European Union Youth Orchestra and National Youth Orchestra of Canada. He has collaborated with many musical luminaries, including conductors Sir Neville Marriner, David Afkham, Pablo Heras-Casado, David Danzmayr, JoAnn Falletta, Marcelo Lehninger, Nicholas McGegan, Alexander Prior, Vasily Petrenko and Thomas Søndergård. 

Pouliot has been featured twice on Rob Kapilow’s What Makes it Great? series and has been NPR’s Performance Today Artist-in-Residence in Minnesota (2017/18), Hawaii (2018/19), and across Europe (2021/22). Prior to that, he won the Grand Prize at the 2016 Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal Manulife Competition and was named First Laureate of both the 2018 and 2015 Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank.