Wise Music Group has signed a long-term publishing agreement with Canadian composer, Jean-Michel Blais. Blais joins the roster of Première Music Group alongside Germaine Tailleferre, Nadia Boulanger, Brigitte Fontaine, Josephine Stephenson, Claude Nougaro, Betsy Jolas, Henri Salvador, Elsa Barraine and Vasco Mendonça, among others.
His upcoming album mirador will be released on September 25, 2026.
Jean-Michel Blais commented: « I am thrilled to be starting this new chapter with Wise Music. It was important to me to entrust my copyrights to a renowned company whose work I respect, and I am proud to be part of it today. Joining a family-owned business of this stature—representing both the great composers of the past and the creators of today—marks a significant milestone in my artistic journey. »
Thomas Jamois, Managing Director of Wise Music France, says: « We are delighted to welcome Jean-Michel to the prestigious Wise Music roster. His rare emotional and powerful melodies make proof of a unique sensitivity with a high artistic standard. We are fully committed to nurturing his artistic journey across his genre-blending approach. »
About Jean-Michel Blais :
Jean-Michel Blais is a Montreal-based pianist, composer and performer signed to Arts & Crafts and Mercury KX (Decca). In the first decade since the release of 2016’s landmark debut album Il, the classically trained Blais has defined his own music by a reverent intimacy he shares with his instrument, the piano. Appearing on TIME’s Top 10 Best Albums that year, the magazine said of his improvisationally-inspired debut release: “his music breathes, invites one to take a moment, and acknowledges that there is still much beauty in the world.”
Throughout his discography, Blais uses instrumentation and composition as tools of personal expression, subtly revealing layers of his own character – as a queer artist, a perpetual traveller, student, and caregiver – often told through the perspective of his upbringing. Now four albums into his career, Jean-Michel Blais is no longer just charting the map of his grown-up heart: on mirador, he offers a new vantage on childhood—a vivid and vicarious chance to listen anew, gazing ahead into the imaginary.
In 2023, Blais performed one of the largest neoclassical concerts in history at the Montreal Jazz festival in front of 40.000 people. In 2024, he collaborated with the Symphonic Orchestra of Québec, conducted by Dina Gilbert, and the Orchestre de l’Agora to perform a symphonic arrangement of his album aubades.