MUSIC

The Houston Symphony presents Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony.  Thursday, April 8, and Saturday-Sunday, April 10-11. 

Austrian conductor Christian Arming first came to public attention when, aged just 24, he was appointed Chief Conductor of the Janá?ek Philharmonic in Ostrava. Other European positions followed, and since 2003 he has been Music Director of the New Japan Philharmonic in Tokyo.

Arming’s career successfully spans both the orchestral and operatic worlds. Opera highlights have included new productions of Britten The Turn of the Screw in Cincinnati and Rosenkavalier in Triest as well as La Boheme in Lucerne, Salome and Elektra in Verona, and Der Fliegender Hollander and Jenufa for Frankfurt Opera.

Christian Arming has made a number of recordings including works by Janá?ek, Schubert and most recently Brahms Symphony No 1 and Mahler Symphonies Nos 3 and 5 with the New Japan Philharmonic on Fontec.

Hailed as "the Jascha Heifetz of our day" (Globe and Mail), violinist James Ehnes is widely considered one of the most dynamic and exciting performers in classical music. He has performed in over 30 countries on five continents, appearing with many of the world's most well-known orchestras and conductors, including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Andrew Davis, Charles Dutoit, Ivan Fischer, Lorin Maazel, Michael Gielen, Hans Graf, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, the late Richard Hickox, Paavo Järvi, Andrew Litton, Zdenek Macal, Sir Charles Mackerras, David Robertson, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Christian Thielemann, Bramwell Tovey, and Bobby McFerrin.

Following a busy summer featuring appearances in Chicago, Toronto, Ottawa, Seattle, the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and his debut at the Salzburg Festival, the 2009-2010 season takes James Ehnes to Japan, the Netherlands, the US, Canada and Germany. In Europe, James will be featured in concerts with the BBC Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony, London Philharmonia, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and the Netherlands Philharmonic. In the US, he will be seen in concerts with the Baltimore, St. Louis, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Seattle, Columbus, Houston, Dallas and San Francisco symphony orchestras and return to the San Diego Mainly Mozart Festival.

In addition to his many concert appearances, James will appear in recital in Detroit, Toronto, Vancouver, Brandon, Montreal, and Glasgow. Future seasons see James return to Australia, New Zealand, and Japan in addition to many performances throughout Canada, the US and in Europe.

An extremely prolific and multi-award-winning recording artist, with a GRAMMY, a Gramophone, and six JUNO Awards, James Ehnes will add to his impressive discography of over 20 recordings with a new recording of the24 Paganini Caprices (ONYX) due to be released in fall 2009. James's first recorded the Paganini Caprices in 1995 for Telarc. His JUNO Award-winning release of HOMAGE, a CD/DVD set featuring performances on 12 of the greatest violins and violas ever made, all belonging to the extraordinary Fulton Collection continues to garner exceptional reviews.

Other recent releases include Elgar's Violin Concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Sir Andrew Davis on the Onyx label and a disc of works by Paul Schoenfield with pianist Andrew Russo (Black Box). James's CD featuring the violin concertos of Korngold, Walton and Barber with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Bramwell Tovey conducting (CBC) was widely considered a highlight of 2006 and won the 2008 GRAMMY and JUNO Awards.

In January 2006, he celebrated the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth with the release of a recording of Mozart's complete oeuvre for solo violin and orchestra. The five Violin Concertos and three single movement works- Adagio K 261, Rondo K 269, and Rondo K 373 - features an ensemble of extraordinary musicians which Ehnes gathered from around the world and directed himself (CBC Records) and has widely received top praise making it "a clear first choice in the field" (Classic FM).

James Ehnes has recorded repertoire ranging from Bach Violin Sonatas to John Adams Road Movies. His CBC recordings with l'Orchestre symphonique de Montréal of Max Bruch's Concertos nos. 1 and 3 (with Charles Dutoit) and Concerto no. 2 with the Scottish Fantasy (with Mario Bernardi) won back-to-back Juno awards in 2001 and 2002 for Best Classical Recording. In January 2002, he was named Young Artist of the Year at the Cannes Classical Awards for his Six Sonatas & Partitas for Solo Violin by Bach (Analekta), which was also awarded a JUNO award in 2001.
 

James Ehnes was born in 1976 in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada. He 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 has won numerous awards and prizes, including 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.

Scheduled Program:
Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture
Barber: Violin Concerto
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5

Artists:
Christian Arming, conductor
James Ehnes, (pictured) violin