James Ehnes
James Ehnes is a Canadian violinist and violist, who also can play a piano like it's nothing to sweat about. Born in Brandon, Manitoba to a trumpet professor and a former ballerina, Ehnes began violin at age 4 and went on to study at Juilliard. He was awarded a Doctor of Music from Brandon University in 2005 and in 2010 he was made a Member of the Order of Canada. He performs on a 1715 Stradavarius violin, has recorded 62 albums and has won 11 Juno awards, 2 Grammies and a Gramophone Award. He currently lives in Florida with his wife and two children.
Virtual Orchestra
Here is James Ehnes with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in June 2020 for a virtual performance of Beethoven's Violin Romance no. 2. It's cute that even with this virtual performance the musicians are divided into their regular sections on the screen when the whole orchestra plays!
Café Concert
Grab a cup of something because this is a café concert James Ehnes did for New York Classical Music Radio. He is performing Bach's Partita no. 3: Preludio and Gigue.
Multi-Instrumentalist
Oh good... he can play piano too... All jokes and feelings of musical inferiority aside, can we just say he's a national treasure? He is joined here by another Canadian pianist, Jan Lisiecki, to perform Dvořák's Slavonic Dance no. 8 on piano, on one piano no less!
Box Violin
Do you have a budding violinist in your home? Make this DIY box violin with a box of macaroni and cheese and a paint stir stick. It's the perfect way to introduce the instrument to a little musician without dropping big bucks on a breakable instrument!
