2026 Guest Artists

Mr. Bailey has been featured with symphony orchestras and music festivals worldwide. He won the Best Solo Performance Grammy Award in 2017, for his recording of Michael Daugherty’s “Tales of Hemingway,” with the Nashville Symphony led by Giancarlo Guerrero. His extensive discography includes his newest release – the world premiere recording of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Cello Concerto with the Santa Rosa Symphony. In 2021 he released his second recording of the Bach Cello Suites for PS Audio’s Octave Records label, recorded and mixed in stereo and multichannel sound.

He appeared in a recurring role on the HBO series “Oz,” and has been heard on NPR’s “Morning Edition,” “Tiny Desk Concert,” “Performance Today,” “Saint Paul Sunday,” BBC’s “In Tune,” XM Radio’s “Live from Studio II,” Sirius Satellite Radio’s “Virtuoso Voices,” and his latest disc of Bach Suites was the disc of the week on Sirius’ Symphony Hall.

Mr. Bailey received his Bachelor’s Degree from the Peabody Conservatory where he was named the 2014 Johns Hopkins University Distinguished Alumni, and received a Master’s Degree from the Juilliard School. He performs on the “rosette” 1693 Matteo Gofriller Cello formerly owned by Mischa Schneider of the Budapest String Quartet.

He is the Artistic Director of El Paso Pro-Musica (Texas), the Sitka Summer Music Festival/Series and Cello Seminar, (Alaska), Juneau Jazz and Classics, (Alaska), the Northwest Bach Festival (Washington), Classical Inside Out Series- Mesa Arts Center (Arizona) and is Director of the Center for Arts Entrepreneurship and Professor of Cello at the University of Texas at El Paso.

She is also a highly acclaimed fiddler in the tradition of her native Kentucky, delighting audiences with programming that includes Appalachian and bluegrass music and inspiring composers to write for her.

Following a busy summer that saw her perform with the Sarasota Festival, Seattle Chamber Music Festival, La Jolla Music Society SummerFest, Classical Tahoe, Tippet Rise, and Moab Music Festival, among others, highlights of Lark’s 2024-25 season include returns to the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London, and the Rochester Philharmonic, and a debut with Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. In recital she will debut with San Francisco Symphony, University of California at Santa Barbara and the Artist Series of Sarasota. She reprises Michael Torke’s violin concerto, Sky – written for her, and the 2020 recording of which earned her a Grammy nomination – with the Boulder and Colorado Springs Philharmonic Orchestras, as well as the West Michigan, Williamsburg, Shreveport, and Tallahassee Symphony Orchestras. As a chamber musician, she will tour with her string trio project with composer-bassist Edgar Meyer and cellist Joshua Roman through the Fall to venues including Meany Hall, Seattle, Cal Performances Berkeley, WPAS in Washington D.C., and the Boston Celebrity Series.

The violinist has performed with orchestras, recital venues and festivals around the world. She has appeared with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra; the Louisville Orchestra; the Stuttgart Philharmonic and the Indianapolis, Knoxville and Seattle Symphonies; as well as being presented by Carnegie Hall, New York’s Lincoln Center, London’s Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Cal Performances, San Francisco Performances, the Seattle Chamber Music Society, Australia’s Musica Viva Festival, and the Marlboro, Mostly Mozart, and Bridgehampton summer festivals.

Lark’s most recent album, The Stradgrass Sessions, released in spring 2023, features an all-star roster of collaborators and composers including Meyer, pianist Jon Batiste, mandolinist Sierra Hull and fiddler Michael Cleveland. Album selections mix original compositions by Lark and her collaborators with a sonata by Eugène Ysaÿe, a selection of Bartók’s violin duets arranged for violin and mandolin and the world premiere recording of John Corigliano’s STOMP.

Lark’s debut commercial recording was the Grammy-nominated SKY, a bluegrass-inspired violin concerto written for her by Michael Torke and performed with the Albany Symphony Orchestra. Besides The Stradgrass Sessions, her discography also includes Fantasy on First Hand Records: fantasias by Schubert, Telemann and Fritz Kreisler; Ravel’s Tzigane; and Lark’s own composition Appalachian Fantasy. Invention, marking the debut album for the violin-bass duo made up of Lark and bassist Michael Thurber, comprises arrangements of Two-Part Inventions by J. S. Bach along with original compositions by both duo partners. Finally, a live performance recording of Astor Piazzolla’s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires was released in 2021 by the Buffalo Philharmonic in honour of Piazzolla’s centenary.

Lark is a recipient of the Hunt Family Award, one of Lincoln Center’s prestigious Emerging Artist Awards, as well as a 2018 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship and a 2016 Avery Fisher Career Grant. She was Silver Medalist in the 9th Quadrennial International Violin Competition of Indianapolis and winner of the 2012 Naumburg International Violin Competition.

In addition to her performance schedule, Lark is Artistic Director of Musical Masterworks, a chamber music presenter in Old Lyme, Connecticut. She champions young aspiring artists and supports the next generation of musicians through her work as Co-host/Creative of NPR’s From the Top, the premier radio showcase for the nation’s most talented young musicians. She also serves as Mentor and board member of the Irving M. Klein International Strings Competition.

Lark is a graduate of New England Conservatory and completed her Artist Diploma at The Juilliard School, where she studied with Sylvia Rosenberg, Ida Kavafian, and Daniel Phillips. Her primary mentors include Cathy McGlasson, Kurt Sassmannshaus, Miriam Fried, and Lucy Chapman. She plays a ca. 1600 G.P. Maggini violin on loan from an anonymous donor through the Stradivari Society of Chicago.

In the 2025–26 season, Key’mon sings the European premiere of Tyshawn Sorey’s Save the Boys at the Ruhrtriennale Festival and joins Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra for Handel’s Messiah under Nicholas McGegan. He tours Vivaldi’s Farnace in the role of Gilade with Ensemble I Gemelli, performing at Teatro Real, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, and Victoria Hall, Geneva. He appears in Vivaldi’s Griselda at Opera Wuppertal and sings Leonardo in Gabriela Lena Frank’s El último sueño de Frida y Diego with Lyric Opera of Chicago, conducted by Roberto Kalb. He reprises the solo alto role in Jake Heggie’s Earth 2.0 with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and performs in the world premiere of Angelica Negrón’s For everything you keep losing with the Dallas Symphony. He also tours the USA and France with Les Talens Lyriques and Christophe Rousset with a programme entitled Handelian Heroes.

Last season, Key’mon debuted with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl in performances of Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, led by Music Director Gustavo Dudamel. Further performances in the season included the world premiere of Jake Heggie’s Earth 2.0 with the Fort Worth Symphony (and later performances with Grand Rapids Symphony) and a recital at the Kennedy Center as the 2024 recipient of the Marian Anderson Award. He also made important debuts in France as Sesto in Giulio Cesare with Opéra National Capitole in Toulouse and as Sifare in Mozart’s Mitridate for Opéra Montpellier led by Philippe Jaroussky. He debuted with Lyric Opera of Chicago, returning to the role of Leonardo in El último sueño de Frida y Diego, a role he created for the world premiere with San Diego Opera. Murrah finished his season with performances as Arbace in Artaserse with Haymarket Opera, and as a soloist in the world premiere of Siddhartha, She by Christopher Theofanidis at the Aspen Music Festival.

Further highlights on the operatic stage include Countertenor 1 in El Niño for Metropolitan Opera; Leonardo in El último sueño de Frida y Diego for Los Angeles Opera; Tolomeo in Giulio Cesare for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and Red River Lyric Opera; the Sorceress in Dido and Aeneas with Bayerische Staatsoper; Hamor in Jeptha with Komische Oper Berlin, for which the Morgen Post praised his “wonderfully supple voice”; the title role in Xerxes for Detroit Opera; the title role in Orfeo ed Euridice at Seattle Opera; and Asprano in Vivaldi's Montezuma with the America Baroque Opera Co.

In concert, Key’mon has performed Messiah with New Jersey Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, and the National Chorale; Bach’s Christmas Oratorio at Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse; and Bach’s Mass in b minor with Grand Rapids Symphony. He has appeared in recitals at Oper Köln, Seattle Opera, and Houston Grand Opera.

In 2023, Key’mon was the First Prize Winner of the Giulio Gari Vocal Competition. In 2021, he was First Prize Winner of Houston Grand Opera’s 33rd Annual Concert of Arias, the Grand Prize winner of the Premiere Opera Foundation + NYIOP International Vocal Competition, and a Finalist and Encouragement award winner of Operalia.

With repertoire spanning the complete quartet cycles of Beethoven and Mendelssohn to works by visionary contemporary voices such as György Kurtág, Jörg Widmann, and Caroline Shaw, the Calidore brings what The New York Times called “deep reserves of virtuosity and irrepressible dramatic instinct” to each performance. Their artistry reflects a profound engagement with both the classical canon and the evolving language of 21st-century chamber music.

The Calidore has performed at many of the world’s greatest concert halls and festivals, including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall, the Berlin Konzerthaus, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Brussels ’BOZAR, and festivals such as the BBC Proms, Verbier, Ravinia, Caramoor, Music@Menlo, and annually at The Bellingham Festival of Music. Collaborators have included Anne-Sophie Mutter, Joshua Bell, Anthony McGill, Marc-André Hamelin, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, David Finckel and Wu Han, the Emerson String Quartet and the Ebene Quartet among others.

Dedicated advocates for today’s music, the Calidore has premiered works by Caroline Shaw, John Williams, Anna Clyne, Gabriela Montero, Sebastian Currier, Han Lash, Mark-Anthony Turnage, and Huw Watkins. In the 2025–26 season, they give the world premiere of a new quartet “Arietta” by Turnage at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts and reunite with Gabriela Montero at the Barbican Centre for a performance of her piano quintet. Additional highlights include a European tour with performances in Ireland, the UK, the Netherlands, Croatia, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland, returns to the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Denver Friends of Chamber Music, South Mountain Concerts in Pittsfield, MA, Sanibel Music Festival, the Bellingham Festival of Music as well as a tour of the West Coast. The Quartet will enjoy numerous collaborations this season, including with guitarist Sharon Isbin, pianists Gabriela Montero and Orion Weiss, violists Lawrence Dutton and Matt Lipman, and clarinetist Ricardo Morales.

In 2026, the Calidore released an all-American album on Signum Records featuring music by Barber, Marsalis, Korngold, and John Williams. In 2025, they unveiled a landmark box set of the complete Beethoven string quartets, recorded for Signum following their live cycle at Lincoln Center during the 2024–25 season. The first volume—featuring the late quartets—was released in 2023 to widespread acclaim and earned the Quartet the 2024 BBC Music Magazine Chamber Award. The second volume, released in 2024, was named Editor’s Choice by Gramophone Magazine. Earlier recordings for Signum include Babel, featuring works by Schumann, Shaw, and Shostakovich, and Resilience, with music by Prokofiev, Janáček, Golijov, and Mendelssohn.

Formed in 2010 at the Colburn School in Los Angeles, the Calidore rose to prominence with top prizes at the ARD Munich, Hamburg, Fischoff, Coleman, Chesapeake, and Yellow Springs competitions. In 2016, they won the Grand Prize of the inaugural M-Prize International Chamber Music Competition and became recipients of the prestigious Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship. Additional honors include the Avery Fisher Career Grant, the Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award, and selection as BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists.

Currently the Distinguished String Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Delaware, the Calidore has also held residencies at the University of Toronto, University of Michigan, and Stony Brook University. The Quartet’s mentors have included the Emerson String Quartet, Quatuor Ébène, Andre Roy, Arnold Steinhardt, David Finckel, Günter Pichler, Guillaume Sutre, Paul Coletti, and Ronald Leonard.

Since his debut at age 16 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Esa-Pekka Salonen, von Oeyen has performed a wide range of concertos and solo repertoire at leading venues worldwide. He has appeared as a soloist in the United States with esteemed ensembles such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Ravinia Festival Orchestra, Grant Park Orchestra, and Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra. Internationally, he has performed with the Mariinsky Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Symphony, Prague Philharmonia, Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de Marseille, Bilbao Symphony, Geneva Chamber Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Jerusalem Symphony, Slovenian Philharmonic, and Slovak Philharmonic, among others.

Von Oeyen has given recitals at prestigious venues including London’s Wigmore Hall and Barbican Hall; Lincoln Center in New York; the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.; Boston’s Symphony Hall; Royce Hall in Los Angeles; Herbst Theatre in San Francisco; Spivey Hall in Atlanta; Tonhalle Zürich; Wiener Konzerthaus; the Royal Opera of Versailles; Teatro Olimpico in Rome; Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow; Philharmonia in St. Petersburg; National Concert Hall in Dublin; Sala São Paulo; Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City; Hong Kong Cultural Centre; Hanoi Opera; and every major concert hall in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. Festival appearances include Aspen, Ravinia, Grant Park, Mainly Mozart, Saratoga, Schubertiade, Festival de Pâques de Colmar, Spoleto USA, Brevard, Grand Teton, Chautauqua, and the Mariinsky’s “Stars of the White Nights.”

His 2025–2026 engagements include a U.S. tour with the Prague Philharmonia culminating at Carnegie Hall; performances with the Polish National Radio Symphony, Maribor Symphony Orchestra, and Macedonian Philharmonic; recital appearances in Strasbourg, Prague, Artis—Naples (Florida), Los Angeles, and southern Oregon; and festival appearances at Murten Classics (Switzerland), LacMus (Italy), and Bellingham, WA (USA). His 2024–2025 season featured performances with the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, Kyoto Symphony, Prague Philharmonia, and Poznań Philharmonic, along with recitals on both sides of the Atlantic. He also released Angels & Demons (2024) with Warner Classics. Other recent invitations include the BBC Symphony; Kansai Philharmonic; the San Francisco, Atlanta, and Grand Rapids symphonies; the Magdeburg, Zagreb, Iceland, Buenos Aires (Teatro Colón), and Kraków philharmonics; a debut in Kuwait City; and a return engagement at the Royal Opera House in Muscat for the Sultan of Oman’s New Year’s Eve Gala.

Von Oeyen has recorded for Warner Classics since 2017. His critically acclaimed solo and concerto albums encompass repertoire ranging from Bach and Beethoven to Debussy, Gershwin, Ravel, Saint-Saëns, Liszt, MacDowell, and Messiaen. In 2021, he released Bach–Beethoven, which was selected as an “Essential New Release” by Gramophone and topped streaming charts on Apple Music, Spotify, and IDAGIO. Angels & Demons (2024) is his fourth album for Warner Classics and a concept album featuring angelic and demonic works by Bach, Liszt, MacDowell, Debussy, Saint-Saëns, Fauré, and Messiaen; it topped Spotify’s “New Classical Releases” charts within its first week. In 2024 he also released Ralph Vaughan Williams’ rarely performed Fantasia for Piano and Orchestra, recorded with Martin Yates and the BBC Symphony Orchestra on the Dutton Vocalion label. The film The Taste of Things, winner of the Best Director Award at Cannes in 2023, featured his piano transcription and recording of Massenet’s “Méditation” from Thaïs as its sole music. Prior to joining Warner Classics, he recorded recital albums of Liszt, Debussy, and Stravinsky for Delos. He has reached broad audiences through televised performances, including PBS’ A Capitol Fourth, America’s largest live concert telecast to millions around the globe from the U.S. Capitol.

Von Oeyen, of German and Dutch origin, was born in the U.S., began piano studies at age five, and made his solo orchestral debut at ten. An alumnus of Columbia University and a graduate of The Juilliard School, his principal teachers included Herbert Stessin and Jerome Lowenthal; he also studied with Alfred Brendel and Leon Fleisher. He won the Gilmore Young Artist Award in 1999 and First Prize in the Léni Fé Bland Foundation National Piano Competition in 2001. He currently resides in Los Angeles, where in 2025 he co-founded the Horizon Circle concert series, and in Paris. He holds both U.S. and French nationality.

A frequent artist with Hawaii Opera Theatre, she made her STUDIO101 debut in I’ll Be Seeing You, reprised the role of Micaëla in Carmen, and helped create the roles of Hana Hooper Ha’alilio and Himiko Hamilton in workshops of The Sheltering Tree and Tea. Other highlights included a role and company debut with Opera Wilmington as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, a recital tour in San Francisco and Hawaii with OperAloha, and returns to the Atlanta Master Chorale as the soloist in Mozart’s Requiem and Coronation Mass and Berkshire Lyric in Haydn’s Die Jahreszeiten. In the upcoming season, she will perform Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the Valdosta Symphony and Bellingham Festival of Music. Valdes returns to Symphony San Jose for Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem and Spanish River Concerts for “Broadway to Opera.” On the opera stage she returns to The Metropolitan Opera to cover Frida Image #1 in El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego.

Her 2023-2024 season was filled with returns to major orchestras and opera houses. On the symphonic stage, Ms. Valdes joined the Greensboro Symphony to sing Knoxville: Summer of 1915 and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 and returned to the Phoenix Symphony for Strauss’s Four Last Songs. In recital, she was featured with Il Cenacolo Italian Club, the Cathedral of St. Paul, the First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta, Spanish River Concerts, and OperaAloha. Additionally, Ms. Valdes returned to Houston Grand Opera to cover Isabel Leonard in the title role of The Sound of Music.

In the 2022-2023 season, Ms. Valdes made her Metropolitan Opera debut, covering Papagena in The Magic Flute, returned to Atlanta Opera as Léontine in The Anonymous Lover, and appeared with Hawaii Opera Theatre as Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi. On the concert stage, she made her San Jose Symphony debut singing Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 and Carmina Burana, joined the Madison Chamber Music Festival in recital with tenor John Riesen, and performed in recital with renowned classical guitarist Pepe Romero at The Hamptons Festival of Music.

During the 2021-2022 season, Ms. Valdes debuted with the Georgia Symphony Orchestra as the soprano soloist in Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, returned to the Berkshire Opera Festival for a recital of Mozart selections alongside tenor Alex McKissick, and made her Hawaii Opera Theatre debut as Micaëla in Peter Brook’s La tragédie de Carmen. She also returned to The Phoenix Symphony as the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, debuted as Maria in The Sound of Music with Charlottesville Opera and The Ellen Theater in Bozeman, joined Berkshire Lyric for Mozart’s Requiem and Laudate Dominum in the prestigious Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood, made her Gulf Coast Symphony debut as the soprano soloist in a concert titled “A Grand Night of Opera,” and returned to the Bellingham Festival of Music for a concert of Strauss lieder.

In the 2020-2021 season, Ms. Valdes was scheduled to return to Houston Grand Opera to sing the role of Amy in the world premiere of The Snowy Day (postponed to the 2021-22 season due to COVID-19) and to make her Hawaii Opera Theatre debut as Euridice in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld (COVID-19). In 2021, she sang the role of Younger Alyce in Glory Denied at Atlanta Opera, joined NYFOS@Home for their It’s Summer in South America recital, covered the role of Lucy in The Threepenny Opera for Atlanta Opera, and joined the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for their series of short films, In The Key of Bach. That summer, she reprised Younger Alyce in Berkshire Opera Festival’s production of Glory Denied and performed as the soprano soloist in Mozart’s Requiem with Summer Singers of Atlanta.

During the 2019-2020 season, Ms. Valdes returned to Atlanta Opera as Cristina Kahlo in Frida and made her Mobile Symphony debut in Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem. Highlights of the 2018-2019 season included her debut with Atlanta Opera as Doris Parker in Charlie Parker’s Yardbird and a company debut with Washington Concert Opera for their Opera Outside series. She also debuted as Violetta in La traviata at Gulfshore Opera, reprised Despina in Così fan tutte with the Rochester Philharmonic, and debuted with West Edge Opera as Euridice in Orfeo ed Euridice. In concert, Ms. Valdes performed Handel’s Messiah with both the Virginia Symphony and the Phoenix Symphony, joined the Brooklyn Art Song Society singing Chants d’Auvergne by Joseph Canteloube, and debuted with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in Serenade to Music by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Bach’s Cantata No. 29, “Wir danken dir, Gott.”

In the 2017-2018 season, Ms. Valdes debuted with New York City Opera, in collaboration with Houston Grand Opera, as Diana in the Mariachi opera, Cruzar la cara de la luna, and made her role and company debut with Opera San José as Despina in Così fan tutte. In the summer of 2018, she made company debuts with the Berkshire Opera Festival as Gilda in Rigoletto and with Opera Theatre of St. Louis as Amore in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice. On the concert stage, Ms. Valdes performed Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 and Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the California Symphony, Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem with the Phoenix Symphony, and Poulenc’s Gloria with the Bellingham Festival of Music.

In the 2016-2017 season, Ms. Valdes returned to San Francisco Opera to cover the role of Gilda, stepping in mid-performance when a colleague fell ill. A distinguished alumna of the SongFest program in Los Angeles, she performed a solo recital of Nordic, Spanish, and Latin American music in collaboration with pianist Javier Arrebola. Other season highlights included Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 and Mozart’s Exsultate, jubilate with both the Las Vegas Philharmonic and Chattanooga Symphony, and performances with Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra singing Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 and the West Coast premiere of Scott Ordway’s Tonight We Tell the Secrets of the World. Ms. Valdes also joined Concert Royal at St. Thomas Church in New York City for Messiah, where The New York Times noted she performed “beautifully, growing stronger as the evening progressed.”

In the 2015-2016 season, Ms. Valdes joined the roster of Lyric Opera of Chicago, covering Juliette in Roméo et Juliette, and completed her time as an Adler Fellow with San Francisco Opera. As an Adler, she performed the roles of Musetta in La bohème, Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, Clorinda in La Cenerentola, and Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro. Covers included Johanna in Sweeney Todd, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Oscar in Un ballo in maschera, Magnolia in Showboat, and Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, a role she also performed in 2013 as a member of the Merola Opera Program.

An accomplished recitalist, Ms. Valdes has performed with Martin Katz, made her New York recital debut with NYFOS performing Compositora, a recital of female Latin American composers with Steven Blier and Michael Barrett, and attended the Steans Institute at the Ravinia Festival, performing in several concerts. Ms. Valdes can be heard on recordings, singing Mendelssohn’s “Hear My Prayer” on the album Evening Hymn (Gothic Records) and on Atlanta Opera’s recent release of Glory Denied. An award-winner in the regional Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions, Ms. Valdes is also the winner of the top prize at the Corbett Opera Scholarship Competition at Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and the recipient of a Shoshana Foundation Grant.
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As a soloist, Blake’s 2025-26 concerto highlights include a return to National Ars Centre Orchestra to open their season with Music Director Alexander Shelley, performing Shostakovich Violin Concerto No. 1. He will make debuts with the Illinois Symphony, performing Rózsa’s Violin Concerto with Music Director Taichi Fukumura, and with 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 andAlevtina 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 soloist with the Sofia Philharmonic in Bulgaria, 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.