Since his orchestral debut at age 11, Toronto-born, LA-based violinist Blake Pouliot has performed with orchestras across North America including those of Aspen, Atlanta, Detroit, Dallas, Madison, Montreal, Toronto, San Francisco, Seattle, and more.

Winnipeg is set to be next. 

Pouliot, 27, who has established himself as a consummate 21st-Century artist, performs alongside maestro Daniel Raiskin and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra in this weekend’s BMO Beyond Classics series concert. 

Performing on the 1729 Guarneri del Gesù, on generous loan from the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank as First Laureate of both their 2018 and 2015 Competition, Pouliot plays the Samuel Barber Violin Concerto, op. 14, in his Manitoba debut. 

7:30 pm Saturday, December 4 at the Centennial Concert Hall. Also on the program: Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 in E minor (From the New World) and the Hiawatha Overture by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.

For more details, visit: www.wso.ca 

In the conversation with Blake Pouliot below, hear more about his rather new relationship with the Barber concerto; Pouliot’s take on the fuss around the finale; how acting—and more specifically, improv—has helped him in his career; and, what makes performing back home in Canada special.