Hailed by CBC as one of the most promising emerging artists of the country, pianist Samuel Blanchette-Gagnon stands out with his fervour, his profound musical interpretations and his wide colour palette. Laureate of several international and national competitions, he has won the prestigious Prix d’Europe 2019, the Canadian Music Center Prize and the 2nd Prize of the International Stepping Stone. He regularly performs as soloist and recitalist in his country and abroad, and was invited to play in the Glocal Piano Project from the International Busoni Competition. As a passionate chamber musician, he has played for Les Violons du Roy and with the Quatuor Saguenay, while his first album, recorded with violinist Marie Bégin (Atma Classique, 2021), received dithyrambic reviews by the press. Their new album, centered on the third Sonata by Georges Enescu, will be released during the next months.

 

Graduate of the Quebec Conservatory of Music, where he obtained first prizes in piano and chamber music under the tutelage of Gérald Lévesque and Darren Lowe, Samuel Blanchette-Gagnon pursued advanced training with renowned pianist and teacher Michel Franck. He now benefits from advice of internationally celebrated musicians such as Marc-André Hamelin, André Laplante, Benedetto Lupo, Charles Richard-Hamelin, Bertrand Chamayou and Stephen Kovacevich. In addition to taking part in a lied academy with baritone Olaf Bär and pianist Ulricke Siedel, he was a participant in a prestigious duo academy under the tutelage of violinist Pierre Amoyal and pianist Pavel Gililov. In 2022, he was selected together with five other promising artists for the first edition of the Carrefour International for young musicians at Festival de Lanaudière.

 

Mr. Blanchette-Gagnon has been under scholarship of the Jeunesses Musicales du Canada, is recipient of the Wilfrid-Pelletier Scholarship and was awarded the General Governor Academic Medal twice. He also enjoys the use of a fine instrument graciously on loan from the Canimex Inc.