James Ehnes

James Ehnes – born in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada on January 27, 1976 -  is a violinist and violist who has also added conducting to his repertoire. The son of a university trumpet teacher and a former ballerina with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, he took up the violin at the age of four, studying at the Meadowmount School of Music (1993-1997), then at the Juilliard School in New York, where he won the Peter Mennin Prize in addition to his diploma. After making his debut with Jeunesses Musicales du Canada, he went on to perform with leading American and European orchestras. He has recorded for several labels including Telarc, CBC Records, Analekta, Chandos and Onyx Records. His repertoire ranged from Baroque to contemporary works and has included great concertos for violin and viola composed by Bruch, Dvořák, Barber, Elgar, Prokofiev, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Britten, Shostakovich, Mozart, and Bartók. In addition to other must-have scores such as Paganini's 24 Caprices, Bach's Sonatas & Partitas and pieces by Ravel, Debussy, Kreisler, Hummel, Wienawski, Sarasate, Schumann, Vivaldi, and Ysaÿe, James Ehnes revealed his distinctiveness through recitals such as Homage (2009) and personal selections such as Dallapiccola, Dohnányi, and John Adams on the album Road Movies (2005). The violinist and violist, equally at home with orchestral and chamber music, has collaborated on recordings with Charles Dutoit, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Gianandrea Noseda, Andrew Davis, Neeme Järvi, Edward Gardner, Andrew Manze, and pianist Andrew Armstrong. With Armstrong, he recorded the complete sonatas for violin and piano by Bartók (2012-2017) and Beethoven (2017-2020). In 2016, the musician created the Ehnes Quartet, which began a complete performance of Beethoven's string quartets. The recipient of honorary awards including the Order of Canada in 2010, James Ehnes taught at the Royal Academy of Music in London, England before taking up a post at Indiana University and learning to conduct. Following the 2023 albums Nielsen: Violin Concerto – Symphony No. 4 and Mythes, he released Stravinsky: Violin Concerto - Orchestral Works in January 2024.