Biography

Featured in CBC Music’s “30 hot Canadian classical musicians under 30” list in 2023, Justin Saulnier is a young rising star in the Canadian music scene. His musicianship and stage presence have earned him performances all across Canada and beyond.

Justin is a Franco-Ontarian violinist from Orléans. He made his orchestral solo debut at age 12 with the Ottawa Chamber Orchestra and has since performed with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre Métropolitain, Canada’s National Arts Center Orchestra, the McGill Symphony Orchestra, the Pembroke Symphony Orchestra the Montreal Youth Symphony Orchestra, and the Ottawa Youth Orchestra, having worked with prominent conductors including Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Tomas Netopil and Alexis Hauser. He has also performed at many summer music festivals including Virée Classique, Music and Beyond, Music Academy of the West, and Sarasota Music Festival.

Justin has received many awards, notably the first prize in the Eckhardt-Gramatté competition and in the NACO Bursary Competition, second prize in the Concours OSM, the grand prize in the Orchestre Métropolitain OMNI Competition, the Concours et Festival de Musique de Lanaudière, the McGill Romantic Concerto Competition, and the OMFA’s provincial competition. He was also a finalist at the London Classic Violin Competition.

Justin is also passionate about chamber music. He is the first violinist of the Horatio Quartet, which was selected to participate in the Lyon International Chamber Music Competition and appeared at the Montréal International String Quartet Academy. They have received the guidance of their coach, André Roy, as well as Mathieu Herzog, Petr Prause, Ralph de Souza, the Dover, Jerusalem and Calidore quartets. He has also shared the stage with other well-established musicians such as Arnaud Sussmann, Jeffery Kahane, and Marianne Gedigian.

An avid orchestral player, Justin has also enjoyed being concertmaster of the Music Academy of the West Festival Orchestra, the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, the Ottawa Chamber Orchestra, and the McGill Symphony, among others.

He is currently pursuing his undergraduate degree at McGill University with Andrew Wan. He is grateful to the Lloyd Carr-Harris Foundation for their generous support. Justin plays on a 1680 Francesco Ruggeri from Cremona, and a Louis Gillet bow, generously loaned to him by the company Canimex Inc. from Drummondville.