Orléans young violinist wins $25K music prize

20-year-old Justin Saulnier is making waves in the world of music, winning the Michael Measures First Prize Award. CTV’s Camille Wilson reports.

Ottawa’s Justin Saulnier, a 20-year-old violinist, has reached the highest level of national recognition by winning a prestigious music award.

Saulnier received the Michael Measures Award First Prize of $25,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts.

“It’s just such a pleasure to have won the First Prize of the Michael Measures Award, to be awarded this great opportunity and to have the opportunity to perform the Second Violin Concerto with the orchestra in so many different places across the country,” Saulnier told CTV News Ottawa Sunday.

The rising star started playing the violin at four-years-old and made his orchestral debut at 12 with the Ottawa Chamber Orchestra.

“I actually grew up going to concerts at the Ottawa Youth Orchestra that my brother and sister played in, so I grew up a lot around classical music. I also specifically remember hearing this French violinist in France play the Four Seasons in a really old church. I was so entranced by that performance, I really wanted to learn more,” Saulnier said.

He’s performed with major orchestras across Canada, including the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and the National Arts Centre, and won multiple national competitions.

He currently studies at McGill University with violinist Andrew Wan.

The National Youth Orchestra of Canada brings together 91 of the top musicians across Canada every summer to play together as an orchestra. It’s celebrating its 65th anniversary this year.

Saulnier will perform as a featured soloist with 91 of Canada’s top young musicians at the National Youth Orchestra of Canada on Sunday evening at the Carleton-Dominion Chalmers Centre in Ottawa.

“It’s a really special experience for musicians from across the country to meet each other and to do something that I always think is one of the most magical things that we do - bring together a whole bunch of different people who play different instruments, who come from different places, who have different ideas and are different ages,” said Naomi Woo, music director of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada.

“Opportunities to be a soloist with an orchestra, to play a concerto are not always easy to come by but I think it’s extremely special to play a concerto with your community - your peers and colleagues and friends.”

Saulnier says he’s excited to be performing in his hometown.

“It’s so cool to be doing this back home, where it all started. It’s so feel so good to go back home and kind of be where I’ve always looked up to people, growing up here in Ottawa,” Saulnier said.

The National Youth Orchestra of Canada started their tour in Toronto, then Kingston before stopping in the nation’s capital. Afterwards, the tour will continue in British Columbia with concerts in Vancouver, Nanaimo and Victoria.

• Sign up now for daily CTV News Ottawa newsletters
• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News Ap