Thursday, May 8, 2025 @ 8:00pm – 7:30pm (EDT)
Carnegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall), New York, NY, United States

Witness the Carnegie Hall debut of violinist Blake Pouliot, whom the Toronto Star calls "one of those special talents that comes along once in a lifetime." It's an electrifying program from the very first measure, with Bao Zhi Yang's Ambush on All Sides providing a dramatic opening statement that leads into Janáček's sole surviving Violin Sonata, a work of aching passion and sincerity. Pouliot treats listeners to an additional masterpiece: Prokofiev's Violin Sonata No. 1, which demands extraordinary dynamic command as it moves between its most ethereal and forceful passages. Rounding out the concert is the premiere of an innovative, Carnegie Hall co-commissioned work by Derrick Skye and Pirayeh Pourafar. 

Join us for a free drink at a post-concert reception in Weill Recital Hall's Jacobs Room. Learn more: https://www.carnegiehall.org/Events/Concert-Extras/Salon-Encores

About Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall's mission is to present extraordinary music and musicians on the three stages of this legendary hall, to bring the transformative power of music to the widest possible audience, to provide visionary education programs, and to foster the future of music through the cultivation of new works, artists, and audiences.

https://www.carnegiehall.org/

About Henry Kramer, piano

Praised by The Philadelphia Inquirer as a "pianist of enormous talent" and The New York Times for "thrilling [and] triumphant" performances, pianist Henry Kramer is a musician of rare sensitivity who combines stylish programming with insightful and exuberant interpretations. An international prize winner, Mr. Kramer has been awarded the Avery Fisher Career Grant by Lincoln Center—one of the most coveted honors bestowed on young American soloists.

In addition to a thriving solo career, Kramer is a recording and performance collaborator with such musicians as Mathew Lipman and Jiyoon Lee and has appeared in recitals at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Mainly Mozart Festival, the Mostly Mozart Festival, and La Jolla Music Society's Summerfest. His recording with violinist Lee on the Champs Hill label received four stars from BBC Music Magazine, and Gramophone UK praised Kramer's recording collaboration (Cedille Records) with violist Lipman for an "exemplary flexible partnership." Henry has also performed alongside Emmanuel Pahud, the Calidore and Pacifica Quartets, and Miriam Fried, as well as members of the Berlin Philharmonic and Orchestra of St. Luke's.

Kramer, a Steinway Artist, graduated from the Juilliard School, where he worked with Julian Martin and Robert McDonald, and received his Doctorate of Musical Arts from the Yale School of Music under the guidance of Boris Berman. His teachers trace a pedagogical lineage extending back to Beethoven, Chopin, and Busoni.

http://www.henrykramerpiano.com/

Carnegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall)

881 7th Ave
New York, NY 10019
United States

https://www.carnegiehall.org/