Volume 28 Issue 5 | April & May 2023

CLASSICAL AND BEYOND
Q & A:
Blake Pouliot,
violin
PAUL ENNIS
Blake Pouliot
LAUREN HURT
“What strikes you instantly is that Pouliot’s sound is
a beauty: big, rich and warm in the lower registers,
clean and clear up high, feathery and husky qualities,
along with sweet and rough, all equally there in his
colouristic palette.” – Gramophone Magazine
Toronto-born violinist Blake Pouliot (pronounced pool-YACHT)
brings his passionate music- making to Koerner Hall, where he will
make his debut on April 21. Winning the Grand Prize at the 2016
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal Manulife Competition – the most
significant of Pouliot’s early accolades – led to his first recording (for
Analekta). His 2019 Juno Award nomination was further evidence of
an ascending career path, leading to this much-anticipated Koerner
visit. The following email Q&A took place in early March.
WN: When did you begin your musical education? Was music an
integral part of your childhood?
BP: Music has always been a part of my life. My dad was a TV
producer for the legendary Canadian variety show The Tommy Hunter
Show and my mom was a singer on the show too. Music, in particular
country music, was therefore available in my house for as long as I can
remember. My parents noticed I had perfect pitch when I was about
two years old, and within two years I took an interest in playing the
piano. It wasn’t until I was seven, however, that I first picked up a
violin, and here we are 21 years later and still playing.
What was the first piece of music you fell in love with?
The Barcarolle – Belle Nuit, O nuit d’amour by Offenbach. I learned
a version transcribed for solo piano that enchanted me in my youth.
It wasn’t until a few years later that I discovered the Opera The Tales
of Hoffmann and heard the song again in its original state. But once
I heard it as it was originally composed it only further inspired my
adoration for the work. To this day I admire it deeply.
The passion, technique and romantic fervour you brought to your
approach to Sarasate’s Zigeneurweisen (Gypsy Airs) in Mazzoleni
Hall a few years ago reminded me of violinists of the Golden Age.
Who were your musical heroes in your formative years?
I’m flattered you thought my Zigeneurweisen reminded you of that
golden era! I haven’t ever thought of being compared to them so I’m really
honoured. I definitely spent time listening to those legends as a child –
Heifetz, Perlman, Menuhin, Szeryng etc. They helped expose me to great
virtuosity on the violin. I really became entranced with the new wave of
violinists however, whom I believe really influenced my approach. As a
young Canadian I was of course delighted by all the recordings of James
Ehnes, the impassioned musicality of Janine Jansen and the mastery of
period performance and innate creativity from Rachel Podger. I feel like I
wanted to somehow be a combination of all three of those artists.
Since winning the Grand Prize at the 2016 Orchestre Symphonique de
Montréal Manulife Competition and being nominated for a Juno, you’ve
become a Soloist-in-Residence at the Orchestre Métropolitain working
with Yannick Nézet-Séguin in Montreal and also appearing with him and
the Philadelphia Orchestra. What is it like to work with him?
Yannick is an absolute delight. I’m most impressed by artists who
display their authentic selves on and off the stage, and he is (in my
opinion) the gold standard of that. The way he is changing the face of
classical music by stressing the importance of community engagement
is so inspiring, and I admire him immensely because of it.
It can also be daunting to work with an artist of his stature, but
his compassion and creativity made collaborating for the first time
nothing but exhilarating and I’ve been very fortunate to work with
him a handful of times since. He’s a true class act, one of my biggest
inspirations in the industry and I’m looking forward to getting to
share the stage with him more in the future.
How did you construct the program for your April 21 Koerner
recital? What drew you to Miklós Rózsa’s Variations on a Hungarian
Peasant Song, Op.4, for example?
I’m very excited about this program. I wanted to construct a
program that was musically versatile, harmonically balanced, and true
to my musical stylings. Classical music is going through a tremendous
shift, and I think one of the ways to continue this boundary expansion
is by curating programming that pays homage to the art form’s origins
as well as where classical music is headed. I also think that the idea of
thematic programming needs to be more adventurous. Therefore, this
program will include the Canadian premiere of a commission of mine,
some not-so common pieces, and some violin standards.
Miklós Rózsa is a composer I discovered while living in Los Angeles
for ten years. Like Korngold he was a Jewish composer who moved to
the United States to escape WWII, and while here he gained critical
acclaim (including three Oscars) for his film scores. But he was a
prolific classical composer. His music contains obvious influences
of folk-based nationalism to his native Hungary and his music has a
wonderful Bartókesque/early film score flavour. The Variations on a
Hungarian Peasant Song is an explosive and virtuosic journey, and in
my opinion a wonderful way to open a program.
16 | April & May, 2023 thewholenote.com