Prizes Awarded at Canada’s Montreal Symphony String Competition

22 year old Canadian violinist Blake Pouliot has been awarded 1st prize at the 2016 Montreal Symphony Orchestra Manulife Strings Competition

22 year old Canadian violinist Blake Pouliot has been awarded 1st prize at the 2016 Montreal Symphony Orchestra Manulife Strings Competition, in Montreal, Canada.

Joint 2nd prize was awarded to 21 year old violinist Eva Aronian and 19 year old cellist Bryan Cheng.

A graduate student of Robert Lipsett at the Colburn School, Blake is a former 1st prize at the Canada Council for the Arts’s 2015 Musical Instrument Bank Competition.

He will receive $10,000 CAD (US $7,500) plus a number of important performance opportunities - including a concerto debut with conductor Vasily Petrenko and the Montreal Symphony in February 2017.

Regarded as one of Canada's most important development prizes, previous winners include international soloist James Ehnes and VC Artists Nikki Chooi and Timothy Chooi.

This year’s jury comprised: Douglas Sheldon, Jeanne Lamon, Matthias Naske and Barbara Smith.

BLAKE POULIOT | KORNGOLD VIOLIN CONCERTO | 2ND MVT | 2016 OSM MANULIFE COMPETITION | 1ST PRIZE