James Ehnes

James Ehnes (born January 27, 1976 in Brandon, Manitoba) is a Canadian concert violinist.

The son of Alan Ehnes, a trumpeter and music teacher, James Ehnes began playing violin by the age of five. He won numerous competitions in Canada as a teen and in 2001, he won the Juno Award for Best Classical Album. In January 2002 Ehnes was named Young Artist of the Year at the Cannes Classical Awards in Cannes, France.

James Ehnes graduated from the Juilliard School in 1997 where he was a student of Sally Thomas. He is now an international performer and one of the most prolific recording artists in any style of music (with a total of 21 recordings as of 2008). He plays on a 1715 "Ex Marsick Stradivarius" which belongs to the Fulton Collection.

His recording of Paganini's 24 Caprices, made for Telarc in 1995, was acclaimed as a fine recording of this set of incredibly difficult pieces. In 2005, he was awarded a prestigious Avery Fischer Career Grant and in 2007 he received a Juno for Classical Album of the Year: Large Ensemble or Soloist(s) with Large Ensemble Accompaniment for "Mozart: Violin Concerti - James Ehnes/ Mozart Anniversary Orchestra CBC."

Ehnes's 2007 recording of Elgar's violin concerto was characterized by the classical music magazine Gramophone as "a performance guaranteed to make you fall in love all over again with this sublime music." In January 2008, Gramophone made the recording as an Editor's Choice commenting that it "can only boost Ehnes's standing as one of the most gifted and charismatic fiddlers around." In February 2008, Ehnes won a Grammy award in the Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with Orchestra) category for his "Barber/Korngold/Walton: Violin Concertos" album.

In 2007, James Ehnes was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He lives in Bradenton, Florida and Philadelphia with his wife Kate.

Discography

* "1995" Paganini: The 24 Caprices for Solo Violin
* "2000" Prokofiev: The Two Violin Sonatas and Five Melodies
* "2000" Ravel | Debussy | Saint-Saens
* "2000" Johann Sebastian Bach: The Six Sonatas & Partitas for Solo Violin
* "2001" Max Bruch: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 3
* "2001" French Showpieces
* "2002" Max Bruch: Concerto No.2 and Scottish Fantasy
* "2002" Fritz Kreisler
* "2003" Piano Quintets
* "2004" Romantic Pieces
* "2004" Wieniawski | Sarasate
* "2005" Dallapiccola
* "2005" Donhányi
* "2005" Johann Nepomuk Hummel
* "2005" John Adams: Road Movies
* "2005" Antonín Dvorák: Concertos
* "2005" Johann Sebastian Bach: Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord Vol.1
* "2006" Johann Sebastian Bach: Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord Vol.2
* "2006" Mozart: Mozart Anniversary Orchestra - 2 CD set
* "2006" Barber, Korngold, Walton: Violin Concertos
* "2007" Elgar: Violin Concerto

See also

*List of Canadian musicians
*List of violinists
*List of people who have been pied

External links

* [http://www.jamesehnes.com/ Official site]