Sat, Dec 14 at 7:30 PM
New World Center
Saturday, December 14 at 7:30 PM
Sunday, December 15 at 2:00 PM
- Xian Zhang, conductor
- James Ehnes, violin
Program
- Rossini : Overture to The Italian Girl in Algiers
- Mozart : Violin Concerto No. 5, “Turkish”
- Prokofiev : Symphony No. 6
This concert is part of the Saturday Evening One and Sunday Symphony series. Secure a season of world-renowned artists—including MTT, pianist Daniil Trifonov and violinist James Ehnes—performing an exciting range of orchestral music in one of the world’s most extraordinary and intimate venues for experiencing classical music—the New World Center. Subscriptions for the Saturday One series (4 concerts) begin at $132. Subscriptions to the 5-concert Sunday Symphony series begin at $140. Click to explore the full subscriptions!
Known for his virtuosity and probing musicianship, violinist James Ehnes has performed in over 35 countries on five continents, appearing regularly in the world’s great concert halls and with many of the most celebrated orchestras and conductors.
In the 2016-17 season Mr. Ehnes continues his cross-Canada recital tour in celebration of his 40th birthday; will perform the complete Bach sonatas and partitas in Stresa, Montreux, Los Angeles, Liverpool and Amsterdam; and joins the City of Birmingham Symphony on a tour of China and the National Arts Centre Orchestra on a tour of Eastern Canada. He also holds artist residencies with the Melbourne Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and Scotia Festival; undertakes two tours with the Ehnes Quartet; and leads the winter and summer festivals of the Seattle Chamber Music Society, where he is the Artistic Director.
Mr. Ehnes’ new and upcoming CD releases include a disc of works by Debussy, Respighi, Elgar and Sibelius, as well as a recording of Beethoven Sonatas Nos. 6 and 9 with pianist Andrew Armstrong; the Sibelius and Schubert “Death and the Maiden” quartets with the Ehnes Quartet; and the complete works of Beethoven for violin and orchestra with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Andrew Manze. His recordings have been honored with many international awards and prizes, including a Grammy, a Gramophone and 11 JUNO awards.
Mr. Ehnes was born in 1976 in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada. He began violin studies at the age of four, and at age nine became a protégé of the noted Canadian violinist Francis Chaplin. 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. Mr. Ehnes first gained national recognition in 1987 as winner of the Grand Prize in Strings at the Canadian Music Competition. The following year he won the First Prize in Strings at the Canadian Music Festival, the youngest musician ever to do so. At age 13 he made his major orchestral solo debut with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal.
Mr. Ehnes has won numerous awards and prizes, including the first-ever Ivan Galamian Memorial Award, the Canada Council for the Arts’ Virginia Parker Prize and a 2005 Avery Fisher Career Grant. He has received honorary doctorates from Brandon University and the University of British Columbia, and in 2007 became the youngest person ever elected as a Fellow to the Royal Society of Canada. In 2010 the Governor General of Canada appointed Mr. Ehnes a Member of the Order of Canada, and in 2013 he was named an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music, limited to a select group of 300 living distinguished musicians.
Mr. Ehnes plays the ‘Marsick’ Stradivarius of 1715. He currently lives in Bradenton, Florida with his family.