James Ehnes
Encyclopedia
James Ehnes, CM
(born January 27, 1976 in Brandon, Manitoba
) is a Canadian
concert violin
ist.
The son of Alan Ehnes, trumpet professor at Brandon University
(Canada) and Barbara Ehnes, former director of the Brandon School of Dance, James Ehnes began his violin studies at the age of four. He graduated from The Juilliard School
in 1997 where he was a student of Sally Thomas, winning the Peter Mennin Prize for Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Music. He is now an international acclaimed performer and recording artist.
Praised as "the Jascha Heifetz of our day" (Globe and Mail), James Ehnes is widely considered one of the most dynamic and exciting performers in classical music. He has performed in over 30 countries on five continents, appearing regularly with many of the world's most well-known orchestras and conductors. He is one of the most prolific recording artists in any style of music (with a total of 24 recordings released through 2009). His recordings have won numerous awards and prizes, including 6 Junos, a Grammy, and a Gramophone Award. 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 to the Royal Society of Canada. Ehnes performs on the 1715 "Ex Marsick Stradivarius
" on loan from the Fulton Collection. He lives in Bradenton, Florida
with his wife, Kate.
In 2010, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada
.
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
(born January 27, 1976 in Brandon, Manitoba
Brandon, Manitoba
Brandon is the second largest city in Manitoba, Canada, and is located in the southwestern area of the province. Brandon is the largest city in the Westman region of Manitoba. The city is located along the Assiniboine River. Spruce Woods Provincial Park and CFB Shilo are a relatively short distance...
) is a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
concert violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist.
The son of Alan Ehnes, trumpet professor at Brandon University
Brandon University
Brandon University is a Canadian university located in the city of Brandon, Manitoba, with an enrolment of 3383 full-time and part-time students. The current location was founded on July 13, 1899, as Brandon College as a Baptist institution. It was chartered as a university by then President Dr....
(Canada) and Barbara Ehnes, former director of the Brandon School of Dance, James Ehnes began his violin studies at the age of four. He graduated from The Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
in 1997 where he was a student of Sally Thomas, winning the Peter Mennin Prize for Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Music. He is now an international acclaimed performer and recording artist.
Praised as "the Jascha Heifetz of our day" (Globe and Mail), James Ehnes is widely considered one of the most dynamic and exciting performers in classical music. He has performed in over 30 countries on five continents, appearing regularly with many of the world's most well-known orchestras and conductors. He is one of the most prolific recording artists in any style of music (with a total of 24 recordings released through 2009). His recordings have won numerous awards and prizes, including 6 Junos, a Grammy, and a Gramophone Award. In October 2005, he was awarded a Doctor of Music degree (honoris causa) from Brandon University
Brandon University
Brandon University is a Canadian university located in the city of Brandon, Manitoba, with an enrolment of 3383 full-time and part-time students. The current location was founded on July 13, 1899, as Brandon College as a Baptist institution. It was chartered as a university by then President Dr....
and in July 2007 he became the youngest person ever elected as a Fellow to the Royal Society of Canada. Ehnes performs on the 1715 "Ex Marsick Stradivarius
Ex Marsick Stradivarius
The ex-Marsick Stradivarius of 1715 is an antique violin named for Belgian violinist and teacher Martin Pierre Marsick who owned the instrument made by Antonio Stradivari of Cremona...
" on loan from the Fulton Collection. He lives in Bradenton, Florida
Bradenton, Florida
Bradenton is a city in Manatee County, Florida, United States. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated the city's 2007 population to be 53,471. Bradenton is the largest Principal City of the Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a 2007 estimated population of 682,833...
with his wife, Kate.
In 2010, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
.
Discography
- 1995 Niccolò PaganiniNiccolò PaganiniNiccolò Paganini was an Italian violinist, violist, guitarist, and composer. He was one of the most celebrated violin virtuosi of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique...
: 24 Caprices for Solo Violin24 Caprices for Solo Violin (Paganini)The 24 Caprices for Solo Violin, Op. 1 was written by Niccolò Paganini between 1802 and 1817 and published in 1819. They are also designated as M.S. 25 in Maria Rosa Moretti and Anna Sorrento's Catalogo tematico delle musiche di Niccolò Paganini, which was published in 1982... - 2000 Sergei ProkofievSergei ProkofievSergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century...
: The Two Violin Sonatas and Five Melodies - 2000 Maurice RavelMaurice RavelJoseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
| Claude DebussyClaude DebussyClaude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
| Camille Saint-SaënsCamille Saint-SaënsCharles-Camille Saint-Saëns was a French Late-Romantic composer, organist, conductor, and pianist. He is known especially for The Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre, Samson and Delilah, Piano Concerto No. 2, Cello Concerto No. 1, Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and his Symphony... - 2000 Johann Sebastian BachJohann Sebastian BachJohann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
: The Six Sonatas & Partitas for Solo Violin - 2001 Max BruchMax BruchMax Christian Friedrich Bruch , also known as Max Karl August Bruch, was a German Romantic composer and conductor who wrote over 200 works, including three violin concertos, the first of which has become a staple of the violin repertoire.-Life:Bruch was born in Cologne, Rhine Province, where he...
: Violin Concertos Nos. 1Violin Concerto No. 1 (Bruch)Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26, is one of the most popular violin concertos in the repertoire. It continues to be performed and recorded by many violinists and is arguably Bruch's most famous composition.- History :...
& 3Violin Concerto No. 3 (Bruch)Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 58, was composed in 1891.The work takes approximately 35–40 minutes to perform. It was dedicated to his friend the violinist/composer Joseph Joachim... - 2001 French Showpieces
- 2002 Bruch: Concerto No. 2Violin Concerto No. 2 (Bruch)Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 44 was composed around 1878, and dedicated to the great Spanish violinist, Pablo de Sarasate. It was premiered in London by Sarasate, conducted by Bruch, in November 1878. The concerto has three movements:...
and Scottish FantasyScottish FantasyThe Scottish Fantasy in E-flat major, Op. 46, is a composition for violin and orchestra by Max Bruch. Completed in 1880, it was dedicated to the virtuoso violinist Pablo de Sarasate.It is a four movement fantasy on Scottish folk melodies... - 2002 Fritz KreislerFritz KreislerFriedrich "Fritz" Kreisler was an Austrian-born violinist and composer. One of the most famous violin masters of his or any other day, he was known for his sweet tone and expressive phrasing. Like many great violinists of his generation, he produced a characteristic sound which was immediately...
- 2003 Piano Quintets
- 2004 Romantic Pieces
- 2004 Henryk WieniawskiHenryk WieniawskiHenryk Wieniawski was a Polish violinist and composer.-Biography:Henryk Wieniawski was born in Lublin, Congress Poland, Russian Empire. His father, Tobiasz Pietruszka, had converted to Catholicism. His talent for playing the violin was recognized early, and in 1843 he entered the Paris...
| Pablo de SarasatePablo de SarasatePablo Martín Melitón de Sarasate y Navascués was a Navarrese Spanish violinist and composer of the Romantic period.-Career:Pablo Sarasate was born in Pamplona, Navarre, the son of an artillery bandmaster... - 2005 Luigi DallapiccolaLuigi DallapiccolaLuigi Dallapiccola was an Italian composer known for his lyrical twelve-tone compositions.-Biography:Dallapiccola was born at Pisino d'Istria , to Italian parents....
- 2005 Ernő DohnányiErno DohnányiErnő Dohnányi was a Hungarian conductor, composer, and pianist. He used the German form of his name Ernst von Dohnányi for most of his published compositions....
- 2005 Johann Nepomuk HummelJohann Nepomuk HummelJohann Nepomuk Hummel or Jan Nepomuk Hummel was an Austrian composer and virtuoso pianist. His music reflects the transition from the Classical to the Romantic musical era.- Life :...
- 2005 John Adams: Road Movies
- 2005 Antonín DvořákAntonín DvorákAntonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
: Concertos - 2005 Bach: Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord Vol.1
- 2006 Bach: Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord Vol.2
- 2006 MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
: Mozart Anniversary Orchestra - 2 CD set - 2007 Paul SchoenfieldPaul SchoenfieldPaul Schoenfield is a classical composer. He is known for combining popular, folk, and classical music forms.Schoenfield was born in 1947 in Detroit, Michigan. He began to take piano lessons at the age of six, and wrote his first composition a year later. Among his teachers were Julius Chajes,...
: Cafe Music, 4 Souvenirs - 2006 Samuel BarberSamuel BarberSamuel Osborne Barber II was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. His Adagio for Strings is his most popular composition and widely considered a masterpiece of modern classical music...
, Erich Wolfgang KorngoldErich Wolfgang KorngoldErich Wolfgang Korngold was an Austro-Hungarian film and romantic music composer. While his compositional style was considered well out of vogue at the time he died, his music has more recently undergone a reevaluation and a gradual reawakening of interest...
, William WaltonWilliam WaltonSir William Turner Walton OM was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera...
: Violin Concertos - 2007 Edward ElgarEdward ElgarSir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
: Violin ConcertoViolin Concerto (Elgar)Edward Elgar's Violin Concerto in B minor, Op. 61, is one of his longest orchestral compositions, and the last of his works to gain immediate popular success.... - 2008 Homage
- 2009 Niccolò PaganiniNiccolò PaganiniNiccolò Paganini was an Italian violinist, violist, guitarist, and composer. He was one of the most celebrated violin virtuosi of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique...
: 24 Caprices for Solo Violin24 Caprices for Solo Violin (Paganini)The 24 Caprices for Solo Violin, Op. 1 was written by Niccolò Paganini between 1802 and 1817 and published in 1819. They are also designated as M.S. 25 in Maria Rosa Moretti and Anna Sorrento's Catalogo tematico delle musiche di Niccolò Paganini, which was published in 1982...
(new 2009 recording) - 2010 Felix MendelssohnFelix MendelssohnJakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
: Violin concerto