James Ehnes
Early life[edit]
Ehnes was born in Brandon, Manitoba, the son of Alan Ehnes,[1] long time trumpet professor at Brandon University (Canada), and Barbara Withey Ehnes, former ballerina with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Ruth Page's International Ballet, and Chicago Ballet, and former director of the Brandon School of Dance. Ehnes began his violin studies at the age of four and at age nine became a protégé of the noted Canadian violinist Francis Chaplin.[2] He studied with Sally Thomas at the Meadowmount School of Music and from 1993 to 1997 at The Juilliard School, winning the Peter Mennin Prize for Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Music upon his graduation.[3]
James Ehnes toured with Jeunesses MusicalesCanada during the 1992–1993 season, when he was only 16 years old.[4]
Career[edit]
Ehnes has performed with all of the major orchestras in North America including the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in the U.S., as well as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Canada.[5]
In Europe he has performed as soloist with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Ulster Orchestra, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, the Orchestre National de Lyon, the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, plus many others.[6]
In October 2005, he was awarded a Doctor of Music degree (honoris causa) from Brandon University and in July 2007 he became the youngest person ever elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. In 2010, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada.[7]
Ehnes performs on the 1715 "ex-Marsick" Stradivarius.[8] His commercial recordings have won many awards and prizes, including 11 Junos, two Grammies,[9] and two Gramophone Classical Music Awards - 2008 Best Concerto[10] for Edward Elgar's Violin Concerto - 2021 Artist of the Year.[11]
Ehnes was awarded the 2017 Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards in the Instrumentalist category.[12]
Ehnes joined the Royal Academy of Music as visiting professor of violin in 2017.[13][14]
Ehnes will join The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music faculty as a professor of practice in violin as of August 1, 2024.[15][16]
Ehnes is artistic director of the Seattle Chamber Music Society. He and violinist Amy Schwartz Moretti, violist Che-Yen Chen, and cellist Edward Arron perform as the Ehnes Quartet.[17]
Ehnes lives in Ellenton, Florida with his wife and two children.
2000 : Violin Sonata No. 2 | Tzigane | Berceuse sur le nom de Gabriel Fauré, Claude Debussy: Violin Sonata, Camille Saint-Saëns: Violin Sonata No. 1
Maurice Ravel
2000 : The Six Sonatas & Partitas for Solo Violin
Johann Sebastian Bach
2000 French Showpieces - : Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso | Havanaise, Hector Berlioz: Le corsaire | Rêverie et caprice, Ernest Chausson: Poème, Claude Debussy: Tarantelle styrienne, Darius Milhaud: Cinéma Fantaisie, Jules Massenet: Méditation from the opera Thaïs
Camille Saint-Saëns
2002 - Track 20. Petite Valse (Piano Solo: James Ehnes)
Fritz Kreisler
2004 Romantic Pieces
2004 : Op. 94, Potpourri for Viola and Orchestra / Adagio and Rondo alla Polacca for Violin and Orchestra / Violin Concerto in G major
Johann Nepomuk Hummel
2004 : Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 43
Ernő Dohnányi
2004 : Tartiniana (Divertimento for Violin and Orchestra)
Luigi Dallapiccola
2005 : Road Movies for violin and piano, Hallelujah Junction for two pianos (Piano: Andrew Russo, James Ehnes)
John Adams
2005 Bach: Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord Vol.1
2006 Bach: Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord Vol.2
2006 : Violin Concertos 1-5
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
2006 , Erich Wolfgang Korngold, William Walton: Violin Concertos - Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Bramwell Tovey (50th Annual Grammy Awards - Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with orchestra))
Samuel Barber
2007 : Four Souvenirs for violin and piano, Café Music for piano trio
Paul Schoenfield
2009 Homage
2011 : Violin Concerto | Sérénade mélancolique | Valse-Scherzo | Souvenir d'un lieu cher (I. Méditation - II. Scherzo - III. Mélodie)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
2012 Bartók: Works for Violin and Piano, Vol. 1 - | Rhapsody Folk Dances No. 2 | Violin Sonata No. 1 | Violin Sonata No. 2 | Andante
Rhapsody Folk Dances No. 1
2013 Bartók: Works for Violin and Piano, Vol. 2 - | Violin Sonata in E minor | Romanian Folk Dances | Hungarian Folksongs | Hungarian Folk Tunes[19]
Sonata for Solo Violin
2013 Prokofiev: Complete Works for Violin - | Violin Concerto No. 2 | Violin Sonata No. 1 | Violin Sonata No. 2 | Sonata for Two Violins | Sonata for Solo Violin | Five Melodies
Violin Concerto No. 1
2013 Tchaikovsky: - Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Neeme Järvi
Swan Lake
2014 Bartók: Works for Violin and Piano, Vol. 3 - for Violin, Clarinet, and Piano | Sonatina (Transcription for Violin and Piano) | 44 Duos for Two Violins
Contrasts
2014 American Chamber Music: | Charles Ives | Leonard Bernstein | Elliott Carter | Samuel Barber
Aaron Copland
2015 : 2 Movements (with Bells)
Aaron Jay Kernis
2015 The Essential James Ehnes (containing works by Bach, Kreisler, Prokofiev, Dvorak, Saint-Saens, and Berlioz)
2015 : The Four Seasons | Giuseppe Tartini: The Devil's Trill | Jean-Marie Leclair: Violin Sonata, Op. 9 No. 3
Antonio Vivaldi
2016 : Violin Sonata | Edward Elgar: Violin Sonata | Ottorino Respighi: Violin Sonata in B minor | Jean Sibelius: 10 Pensées lyriques, Op. 40: 5. Berceuse
Claude Debussy
2017 Beethoven: | Romance no. 1 Op. 40 | Romance no. 2 Op. 50, Franz Schubert: Rondo in A major for Violin and Strings, D 438
Violin Concerto
2018 : Violin Concerto, Aaron Jay Kernis: Violin Concerto, Bramwell Tovey: Stream of Limelight (61st Annual Grammy Awards - Best Classical Instrumental Solo)
James Newton Howard
2019 Beethoven: Op. 12 | Violin Sonata No. 2 | Violin Sonata No. 3, Variations on Se vuol ballare from Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro
Violin Sonata No. 1
2020 Beethoven: | Violin Sonata No. 5 | Violin Sonata No. 8, Six German Dances, Rondo in G Major
Violin Sonata No. 4
2020 Bach & Brahms Reimagined - : Horn Trio, Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, Brandenburg Concerto No. 5
Johannes Brahms
2021 Bach:
Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin
2023 : Myths | George Frideric Handel: Violin sonata in D major (HWV 371) | James Newton Howard: 133...At Least | Tchaikovsky: Twelve Pieces Op. 40–6, Chanson sans paroles | Josef Suk: 4 Pieces for Violin and Piano Op. 17–4, Burleska | Samuel Dushkin: Sicilienne | Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Flight of the Bumblebee | Manuel Ponce: Estrellita | Percy Grainger: Molly on the Shore
Karol Szymanowski
2024 : Violin Concerto (2022 concert) National Arts Centre Orchestra, Alexander Shelley[20]
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
2024 : Serenade after Plato's "Symposium" | John Williams: Violin Concerto No. 1 - St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Stéphane Denève[21]
Leonard Bernstein
List of Canadian musicians
List of contemporary classical violinists
Official James Ehnes site
Intermusica agency page on James Ehnes
- Onyx Classics
James Ehnes
- Onyx Classics
Ehnes Quartet
- Chamber Soloists of Detroit
James Ehnes
- Chamber Soloists of Detroit