Seattle Chamber Music Society

James Ehnes, Artistic Director / Toby Saks, Associate Artistic Director

Artistic Director //

Welcome

I look forward to welcoming you to our 2013 Winter Festival, where we will present musical masterpieces spanning more than 350 years.

Our newly expanded Winter Festival will feature two weekends of music at fabulous Nordstrom Recital Hall. Among many highlights, on January 24 we will present the six  “Brandenburg Concerti” of Johann Sebastian Bach. We are also celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of the great Benjamin Britten with two of his works for solo instruments, the Metamorphoses after Ovid for solo oboe, and the poignant Elegy for solo viola.

Be sure not to miss Steve Reich’s “Different Trains” on January 19—one of the most profoundly moving works of the late 20th century.

I look forward to seeing you there!

James Ehnes, Violin (Artistic Director 2011-Present)

“playing of phenomenal control, allied to musicianship of the highest order.” (The Times, London)

Known for his virtuosity and probing musicianship, violinist James Ehnes has performed in over 30 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 2012-2013 season James performs in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Australia and New Zealand. Season highlights include the Brahms Concerto with Valery Gergiev and the London Symphony Orchestra at New York’s Avery Fisher Hall, a tour to the far north of Canada with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, a solo violin recital at the Aix-en-Provence Easter Festival, and return engagements with the Philharmonia, Rotterdam Philharmonic, and London, San Francisco, St. Louis, Toronto, Gothenburg and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras. An avid chamber musician, Ehnes will tour with his string quartet, the Ehnes Quartet, and lead the winter and summer festivals of the Seattle Chamber Music Society, where he is the Artistic Director.

James Ehnes has an extensive discography of over 25 recordings featuring music ranging from J.S. Bach to John Adams. Recent releases include two CD’s of the music of Béla Bartók as well as a recording of Tchaikovsky’s complete works for violin. His recordings have been honored with many international awards and prizes, including a Grammy, a Gramophone, and 6 Juno Awards.

James 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.

James Ehnes plays the “Marsick” Stradivarius of 1715. He currently lives in Bradenton, Florida with his wife and daughter.

(http://www.jamesehnes.com)