Classical music: The Young Artist has grown up

Canadian-born violinist James Ehnes first made his Minnesota reputation when at 16, he won the 1992 WAMSO Young Artist Competition put on by the Minnesota Orchestra. Since then, Ehnes has built an international reputation as a soloist with a wide repertoire and many recordings. This Thursday and Saturday, Ehnes will perform the Brahms Violin Concerto with the Minnesota Orchestra to open the orchestra's Bravo Brahms! minifest.

Q: How important was the WAMSO competition for you?

A: Growing up in Brandon, Manitoba, opportunities to get outside performance experience is limited. My teacher and parents and I thought the best move was to enter competitions, not so much to win a prize and money, but to offer a performance opportunity. The Minnesota Orchestra was certainly the most major American orchestra I would have played with at that point.

Q: Had you been to Minneapolis previously?

A: It's difficult to remember the timeline, but Minneapolis was the closest major city. I mean, it was a 10-hour drive, so I was there several times. Nice people. The winter weather is not the best, but it's balmy compared to Manitoba.

Q: You're playing a lot of dates with pianist Andrew Armstrong this season. Are classical musicians like rock musicians in saying, "Dude, we gotta play together sometime"?

A: It is like that. It's not a good idea to be thrown together because of sharing a mutual manager or a record company. Usually, it's a lot better if you come across someone you get along with, work well with, someone who has similar musical values. There are a few pianists I work with somewhat regularly. Andy is one of my favorites.

Q: In addition to the Brahms, you're playing Sibelius, Mozart and Tchaikovsky this season. How do you keep them all straight?

A: The more you do it the easier it gets. If there's a piece like the Brahms that I haven't played in a few months -- I can't remember when the last time was -- it's not like it's easy for me now, but it's not very far back in the file cabinet. And all the pieces have distinct identities and they're in my head so they're not going anywhere. There's the physical challenge of getting them worked up in a short period of time.

Q: How many are in your mental file cabinet?

A: Oh, I have no idea. It depends on how you count. Does an Elgar that's 50 minutes long count the same as a Fritz Kreisler at two minutes? During the course of a season, I do about 18 to 20 concertos, which is a lot. There are soloists who prefer to stick to three to four, to get the most out of it. For me, I like the variety.

Q: Favorites?

A: There aren't any pieces that I play that I don't love. That would be irresponsible and phony. There are pieces that I can love more often. The Brahms has so much that it's beautiful to sit up there even when the violin isn't playing and listen to the orchestra.

Q: This is your first time playing with Osmo Vänskä?

A: Yes. I met Osmo once randomly in a record store in Tokyo. I doubt that he'd ever remember that. But certainly, he has a wonderful reputation for being a probing and interesting mind musically. The Beethoven cycle has garnered so much international attention for good reason.

Q: Any favorite performances this year?

A: I just had a really fun time in Toronto with Tchaikovsky and the Toronto Symphony. That's the orchestra I'm closest with in the world and I play with them a lot. It coincided with the Canadian release of my newest CD on Tchaikovsky, and [music director] Peter [Oundjian] is a really good friend of mine. One of the good things about the career becoming more established is that more of your concerts are what you want them to be. When you're young, you'll play anywhere they'll hire you.

Q: How about favorite halls?

A: Both the concert halls in Vienna are fantastic -- the Musikverein for a violin and the Konzerthaus for larger music. Wigmore Hall in London in terms of a small hall.

Q: You play a 1715 Stradivarius, right?

A: I've made a real life's work about trying out different violins. I'm a total nerd about that. I tried so many top-notch instruments. I've been using this violin for about 12 years so I know it very well. At the time I put my sights on it, it had everything I could have wanted.

Q: What did you want?

A: The best instrument is not necessarily the one that makes your job the easiest. The best is the instrument that can do the most different things. I feel like this instrument, you can point it in a lot of different directions. There are instruments that have dominant personalities that they're going to sound the way they're going to sound. And obviously you're the operator, but in a certain sense you can't push them too much in one direction or the other.

Q: You live in Florida; that's a long way from Canada.

A: I'm a dual citizen and I feel very patriotic to both countries. But it's very important to spend a lot of time in the Great White North.

Q: Still a hockey fan?

A: Oh, yeah. Not anywhere near the fan I used to be, but it's exciting that Winnipeg has the Jets. I grew up with [Wayne] Gretzky, and he was almost a Winnipeg Jet.