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SamaritanMag Q&A With…Pianist Jean-Michel Blais

Quebec composer Jean-Michel Blais is doing something extremely unlikely in 2018 — making classical piano cool again. He also suffers from Tourette Syndrome, and in this interview, he discusses how it affects him.

SamaritanMag Q&A With…Pianist Jean-Michel Blais

By Aaron Brophy

Quebec composer Jean-Michel Blais is doing something extremely unlikely in 2018 — making classical piano cool again. Buoyed by hip record label Arts & Crafts (home to the likes of Broken Social Scene and Feist), Blais' latest album, Dans ma main, has earned him comparisons to high-profile modern composers like Gonzales and Yann Tiersen. 

Blais also happens to have Tourette Syndrome, the neurodevelopmental condition that can cause "sudden, intermittent, repetitive, unpredictable, purposeless, nonrhythmic, involuntary movements or sounds," most commonly referred to as "tics," according to Tourette.ca.


Music — playing it, composing it, listening to it — has had a deep impact on his symptoms. Quite simply, when he's playing music all of Blais' tics disappear.

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As someone who feels a need to help people, Blais has spent time with disadvantaged kids at summer camps when he was young, worked at orphanages in South America and spent time as a special needs educator back home in Montreal.  Having transitioned to a full-time musical career, it's only now that Blais has begun discussing the ways in which Tourette Syndrome affects him.

Speaking to Samaritanmag while on tour in Los Angeles, Blais discussed the misconceptions around Tourette Syndrome, learning to control the tics, when he first noticed that playing music stopped them, the need to help others, and what it feels like when you start involuntarily winking at a television host.

To continue reading the SamaritanMag Q&A with Jean-Michel Blais link here.

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Awards

Jade Eagleson, The Reklaws Lead CMAOntario Nominations in 2024

The Country Music Association of Ontario has announced the nominations for its 12th annual CMAOntario Awards, with Jade Eagleson racking up five nominations. The awards will be presented on June 2 at the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga.

Jade Eagleson is poised to win big at the CMAOntario Awards, presented by the Country Music Association of Ontario.

The "Rodeo Queen" singer picked up five awards nominations today, including Single of the Year, Album/EP of the Year, and Male Artist of the Year — the most nominations of any artist. Eagleson is followed by sibling duo The Reklaws, rising artists Josh Ross and Karli June, and mainstay Meghan Patrick, who all have four nominations each.

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