was born on January 26th 1976 in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada.
The son of Alan Ehnes, a trumpeter and music teacher, James Ehnes began violin studies at the age of four, at age nine he became a protégé of the noted Canadian violinist Francis Chaplin. He studied with Sally Thomas at the Meadowmount School of Music, then in 1993 at The Juilliard School.
He graduated from Julliard in 1997, winning the Peter Mennin Prize for Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Music. 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 orchestral solo debut with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. He won numerous competitions in Canada as a teen, and in 2001, he won the Juno Award for Best Classical Album.
In January 2002, Mr. Ehnes was named Young Artist of the Year at the Cannes Classical Awards in Cannes, France.
He won the first-ever Ivan Galamian Memorial Award, the Canada Council for the Arts' prestigious Virginia Parker Prize, and a 2005 Avery Fisher Career Grant.
In October 2005, James was honoured by Brandon University with a Doctor of Music degree (honoris causa) and in July 2007 he became the youngest person ever elected as a Fellow to the Royal Society of Canada.
James Ehnes plays the "Marsick" Stradivarius of 1715 and gratefully acknowledges its extended loan from the Fulton Collection.
He currently lives in Bradenton, Florida with his wife Kate.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Ehnes