Cliburn Sessions: Simone Porter + Blake Pouliot + Hsin-I Huang

“Porter’s silken-toned virtuosity puts her right up there with the finest interpreters of her generation.”

— Chicago Classical Review

“[Pouliot is] one of those special talents that comes along once in a lifetime.”

— Toronto Star

Violinist Simone Porter has been recognized as an emerging artist of impassioned energy, interpretive integrity, and vibrant communication–whose “silken-toned virtuosity puts her right up there with the finest interpreters of her generation” (Chicago Classical Review). In the past few years, she has debuted with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Los Angeles Philharmonic; and with a number of renowned conductors, including Stéphane Denève, Gustavo Dudamel, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Nicholas McGegan.

A tenacious young artist with a passion that enraptures his audience in every performance, violinist Blake Pouliot has performed with the orchestras of Philadelphia, Aspen, Atlanta, Detroit, Dallas, Montreal, Toronto, San Francisco, and Seattle, among many others. Blake’s debut album earned a 2019 Juno Award nomination for Best Classical Album. He has been NPR’s Performance Today Artist-in-Residence and won the Grand Prize at the 2016 Orchestre symphonique de Montréal Manulife Competition.

Pianist Hsin-I Huang has made guest appearances at the Hollywood Bowl, LA Philharmonic Chamber Music Series, Aspen Music Festival, Celebrity Series of Boston, Ravinia BGH Classics Series, Grand Teton Winter Music Festival, La Virée classique OSM, Fête de la Musique de Tremblant, and on NPR’s Performance Today.