Justin Saulnier is an 18-year-old violinist from Orléans, Ontario. He was the recipient of the Lloyd Carr-Harris String Scholarship to attend McGill University Schulich School of music and is currently pursuing his undergraduate degree in violin performance with Andrew Wan.
Justin participated in the String Leadership Program at the Music Academy of the West in the summer of 2023, led by Glenn Dicterow, and played as concertmaster in one of the the Academy’s Festival orchestra concerts. He was the concertmaster of Canada’s National Youth Orchestra for their 2022 season. He is also the former concertmaster of the Ottawa Chamber Orchestra and the Ottawa Youth Orchestra. He has also shared the stage with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Thirteen Strings, the Ottawa Pops Orchestra, and the Parkdale Orchestra.
As a soloist, Justin has received many awards, notably the first prize in the NACO Bursary Competition, in the Orchestre Métropolitain OMNI Competition, and the OMFA’s provincial competition, as well as the Kinsmen Club Shield Trophy, the RCM Gold Medal and the Edythe Young Browne Trophy. He is also the winner of the 2023 McGill Concerto Competition and the 2023 Oakville Chamber Orchestra Concerto Competition. He made his orchestral solo debut at age 12 with the Ottawa Chamber Orchestra and since then, has performed with the Pembroke Symphony Orchestra and the Ottawa Youth Orchestra.
He was also invited to perform at la Chapelle du Bon-Pasteur, the RCM Celebration of Excellence, the Chamberfest Rising Stars concert, and the Southminster Church Doors Open For Music concert series.