cabaret
starring BLAKE POULIOT
APRIL 26, 2025 @ 7:30pm
The Chan National Queer Arts Center is located at 170 Valencia Street - SF, CA - 94103
“...one of those special talents that comes along once in a lifetime.”
blake pouliot - music of political revolution
Violinist Blake Pouliot, a queer virtuoso hailed as “one of those special talents that comes along once in a lifetime” (Toronto Star) leads an electrifying program designed to galvanize people towards action. At his side is Henry Kramer, a pianist of astonishing depth and fearless precision, praised by The New York Times for his “thrilling, triumphant” performances. Together, these two master musicians will give voice to the sounds of defiance—from Janáček’s appeal for Czech independence the wake of WWI to Pirayeh Pourafar’s contemporary challenge to the rising tides of nativism and xenophobia using the sounds of traditional Persian folk music. The concert ends with the first violin sonata of Sergei Prokofiev, one of Russia’s greatest 20th century composers, written during the ever-tightening grip of Soviet cultural censorship. More than a recital, Music of Political Revolution is a call to arms. It is beauty as resistance, sound as solidarity, and an invitation to feel the pulse of history in the music of now.
About Blake Pouliot
Described as “immaculate, at once refined and impassioned,” (ArtsAtlanta) violinist Blake Pouliot (pool-YACHT) has anchored himself among the ranks of classical phenoms. A tenacious young artist with a passion that enraptures his audience in every performance, Pouliot has established himself as “one of those special talents that comes along once in a lifetime” (Toronto Star).
Blake Pouliot’s 2024-2025 symphonic 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. Blake expands his presence in Europe this season with performances with the London Philharmonic and Alevtina Ioffe, Chamber Orchestra of Europe with conductor Mattias Pintscher and cellist Alisa Weilerstein, KYMI Sinfonietta and Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire.
Recital performances this season include debuts at Carnegie Hall and La Jolla Music Society with pianist Henry Kremer. As a chamber musician, Blake will return to Seattle Chamber Music Society, Austin Chamber Music Festival, Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival, and with violinist Simone Porter and pianist Hsin-I Huang he will perform at the Van Cliburn Concerts in Fort Worth, TX and BroadStage in Santa Monica, CA.
ABOUT HENRY KRAMER
Praised by The Cleveland Classical Review for his “astonishingly confident technique” and The New York Times for “thrilling [and] triumphant” performances, pianist Henry Kramer is developing a reputation as a musician of rare sensitivity who combines stylish programming with insightful and exuberant interpretations. In 2016, he garnered international recognition with a Second Prize win in the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. Most recently, he was awarded a 2019 Avery Fisher Career Grant by Lincoln Center – one of the most coveted honors bestowed on young American soloists.
Kramer began playing piano at the relatively late age of 11 in his hometown of Cape Elizabeth, Maine. One day, he found himself entranced by the sound of film melodies as a friend played them on the piano, inspiring him to teach himself on his family’s old upright. His parents enrolled him in lessons shortly thereafter, and within weeks, he was playing Chopin and Mozart.
Henry emerged as a winner in the National Chopin Competition in 2010, the Montreal International Competition in 2011 and the China Shanghai International Piano Competition in 2012. In 2014 he was added to the roster of Astral Artists, an organization that annually selects a handful of rising stars among strings, piano, woodwinds and voice candidates. The following year, he earned a top prize in the Honens International Piano Competition.
PROGRAM
BAO ZHI YANG Ambush on All Sides
JANÁČEK Sonata for violin and piano
DERRICK SKYE the spark she left behind for solo violin
PIRAYEH POURAFAR Damon for solo violin and electronics
Intermission
PROKOFIEV Violin Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 80
FEATURED ARTISTS
Blake Pouliot, violin
Henry Kramer, piano
