Long Bio 

2019’s “Best Jazz Instrumentalist” (San Francisco Classical Voice Best of the Bay), Justin Ouellet has garnered a reputation as a fearless performer and dedicated educator. In addition to cultivating an accomplished career as a classical musician on both violin and viola, Ouellet moves effortlessly between a multitude of genres such as Contemporary, Avante-Garde, Jazz, Rock and Latin. Ouellet has collaborated with an array of artists and ensembles including the Alexander String Quartet, Patrick Anseth, Kev Choice, Dame Drummer, Dave Ellis, Aaron Germain, Emil Miland, Erik Jakebson, Hausmann Quartet, Jennifer Johns, Josh Jones, Julian Loida, Cava Menzies, Rob Reich, and has appeared with notable musicians such as Air Traffic Controller, Mani Draper, Mark Erelli, Dave Godowsky, Martin Luther McCoy, Meernaa, Jonsi and Alex Somers, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, and iZion. In 2019, Justin’s trio, d’PaJo, was featured by the San Francisco Symphony during their holiday concert series at Davies Symphony Hall. As a classical orchestral and chamber musician, Ouellet has appeared throughout the United States with ensembles and organizations such as the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Juventas New Music Ensemble, Ocala Symphony, OneFound Sound, New Bedford Symphony, and at festivals such as, Eastern, Atlantic, PARMA, and Philadelphia International Music Festivals. He is a recipient of the 2019 Academy of Gospel Music Award for his achievement in arts education as Co-Director of Orchestral & Chamber Music Studies at Oakland School for the Arts, a position he held for seven years. During the pandemic, he was selected by San Jose Jazz for the Jazz Aid Fund to compose a piece (Fervent Pulse) and to be a featured artist at the 2021 New Works Festival which was filmed in the newly renovated Break Room in Downtown San Jose, CA. As a recording artist, engineer and producer, Justin has been involved in dozens of projects with colleagues around the world. Most recent recordings included, Ann Moss Lifeline, and Justin Ouellet the Covid Sessions, which were both released in fall of 2022. Upcoming projects include VoiLáViola, working with composers Nancy Bauchmann, Whitney George, and Joseph Jones and pianist Jennifer Reason.

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Short Bio

Justin Ouellet has performed internationally from California to France, collaborating with musicians from all different backgrounds. His training as a classical musician has awarded him opportunities to perform with members of prestigious groups around the world ranging from the Philadelphia Orchestra to Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. As a natural improviser and performer, Justin has been blessed to share the stage with renowned musicians such as Andrea Boccelli, Jón Þór Jónsi, Kev Choice & Nadja Salerno Sonnenberg. Justin has received recognition for his talents as an artist and educator, receiving the San Jose Jazz Live Aid Grant, Academy of Gospel of Music Educator of the Year and voted best Jazz Instrumentalist by San Francisco Classical Voice. He can be heard on a multitude of recordings and has worked on a variety of production and engineering projects bringing him to renowned studios such as Skywalker Ranch, George Lucas's estate, where many of the great movie soundtracks and Grammy winning albums have been recorded. He has produced three solo albums, one with his band d'PaJo, which pays homage to the great Stephanie Grappelli (the d'PaJo Sessions, 2021) as well as: "The 25th Street Sessions" (2019), & "Justin Ouellet: The Covid Sessions", which was released this fall. He and his wife split their time between California and Massachusetts.