James Ehnes

James Ehnes has established himself as one of the foremost violinists of his generation.

Ehnes Quartet

Hailed as “an important new force in the chamber music arena” with a “dream-team line-up”(Strings), the Ehnes Quartet is comprised of four internationally renowned string musicians: violinists James Ehnes and Amy Schwartz Moretti, violist Richard O’Neill, and cellist Edward Arron.  Formally established in 2010 at the Seattle Chamber Music Society, where they maintain a yearly residence, the members of the Ehnes Quartet have played chamber music together in various formations for more than 20 years.

 

The quartet’s highly refined, sensitive and expressive performances have delighted audiences and critics across North America and Europe, and have made them one of the most sought after chamber groups performing today.

James Ehnes has established himself as one of the most sought-after violinists on the international stage. Gifted with a rare combination of stunning virtuosity, serene lyricism and an unfaltering musicality, Ehnes is a favourite guest of many of the world’s most respected conductors including Ashkenazy, Alsop, Sir Andrew Davis, Denève, Elder, Ivan Fischer, Gardner, Paavo Järvi, Mena, Noseda, Robertson and Runnicles. Ehnes’s long list of orchestras includes, amongst others, the Boston, Chicago, London, NHK and Vienna Symphony Orchestras, the Los Angeles, New York, Munich and Czech Philharmonic Orchestras, and the Cleveland, Philadelphia, Philharmonia and DSO Berlin orchestras.

Recent and future orchestral highlights include the MET Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Orchestre National de France, San Francisco Symphony, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic and Gothenburg Symphony, as well as his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Lincoln Center in spring 2019. He performs regularly at the Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, Symphony Center Chicago, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Ravinia, Montreux, Chaise-Dieu, the White Nights Festival in St Petersburg, Verbier Festival, Festival de Pâques in Aix, and Salzburg Festival.

Ehnes has an extensive discography and has won many awards for his recordings, including a Grammy Award (2019) for his live recording of Aaron Jay Kernis’ Violin Concerto with the Seattle Symphony and Ludovic Morlot, and a Gramophone Award for his live recording of the Elgar Concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Sir Andrew Davis. His recording of the Korngold, Barber and Walton violin concertos won a Grammy Award for ‘Best Instrumental Soloist Performance’ and a JUNO award for ‘Best Classical Album of the Year’.

His recording of the Korngold, Barber and Walton violin concertos won a Grammy

Ehnes began violin studies at the age of five, became a protégé of the noted Canadian violinist Francis Chaplin aged nine, and made his orchestra debut with Orchestra Symphonique de Montréal aged 13. He is a graduate of the Juilliard School where he was a student of Sally Thomas. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and in 2010 was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada.  James Ehnes plays the “Marsick” Stradivarius of 1715.