Winner of the Grand Prize at the 2016 Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal Manulife Competition, violinist Blake Pouliot has been called "one of those special talents that comes along once in a lifetime" (Toronto Star). In this concert, he'll be showcased in two works. Matthias Pintscher composed Assonanza for Violin and Orchestra in 2020 during the early days of covid. The piece captures the tension and inner turmoil of that moment in a sweeping dramatic gesture.

One of the favorite encore pieces of the violin repertoire is Ravel's Tzigane. When the composer was at a soiree in England, he asked a Hungarian violinist to play a Gypsy melody — and then another, and another until the party broke up at 5am. That planted the seed for this dazzling work which runs the soloist through a gauntlet of challenges before closing with a brilliant and flashy perpetual motion finale.

Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite is a delicate and imaginative suite of fairytale pieces. Ranging in mood from whimsy to nostalgia, the piece is full of exquisite orchestral color and detail.

Brahms agonized for 15 years over his first symphony, while his third was completed in a single summer. Unlike other composers who used their music as autobiography, Brahms was a guarded person who rarely discussed the inspiration for a piece and destroyed most of his sketches. Still, he did leave some clues. Although Robert Schumann had died many years before, he was almost certainly on Brahms's mind when he wrote the 3rd during a summer vacation on the Rhine. Schumann's own 3rd Symphony was called the "Rhenish" (Rhine) and is quoted in Brahms's symphony. Brahms said that he lived his life by two principles, "never to attempt an opera or a marriage." The three note theme F-A-F which dominates the 3rd symphony stands for "Frei aber Froh" — free but happy — and is said to be a motto expressing this commitment to lifelong bachelorhood. Experience the drama and passion of this musical journey from turbulence to tranquility.