James Ehnes

James Ehnes has established himself as one of the most sought-after musicians on the international stage. Gifted with a rare combination of stunning virtuosity, serene lyricism, and unfaltering musicality, Ehnes is a favorite guest at the world’s most celebrated concert halls. Recent orchestral highlights include appearing with the Met Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, San Francisco Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, and the Munich Philharmonic.

Throughout the 2023-24 season, Ehnes continued serving as artist-in-residence with the National Arts Centre of Canada and as artistic partner with Artis–Naples. During this season, he debuted with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Tonhalle Zurich, and Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. As a recitalist, Ehnes performs regularly at Wigmore Hall in London (including a complete cycle of Beethoven violin sonatas in the 2019-20 season and the complete violin and viola works of Brahms and Schumann in 2021-22), Carnegie Hall, Symphony Center in Chicago, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and festivals including Ravinia, Montreux, Verbier, Dresden, and Festival de Pâques in Aix-en-Provence.

A devoted chamber musician, he is the leader of the Ehnes Quartet and artistic director of the Seattle Chamber Music Society. Ehnes’s discography has garnered Grammy Awards, three Gramophone Awards, and 11 Juno Awards. He received Gramophone’s Artist of the Year award, celebrating his recent contributions to the recording industry, including his online recital series “Recitals from Home,” launched in June 2020 in response to the pandemic. Ehnes recorded the six Bach Sonatas and Partitas and Ysaÿe’s six solo sonatas from his home with state-of-the-art recording equipment, releasing six acclaimed episodes over two months.

Ehnes began violin studies at age 5, became a protégé of noted Canadian violinist Francis Chaplin at age 9, and debuted with L’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal at age 13. He continued his studies with Sally Thomas at the Meadowmount School of Music and Juilliard, winning the Peter Mennin Prize for Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Music upon his graduation in 1997. He is a member of the Order of Canada and the Order of Manitoba, a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and an honorary fellow of the Royal Academy of Music where he is also a visiting professor. Ehnes plays the 1715 “Marsick” Stradivarius.

Ehnes made his Boston Symphony Orchestra debut at Symphony Hall in February 1999, performing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. He appeared with the BSO most recently in February 2015. This is his Tanglewood debut.