6/26/2023 0 Comments 12 year old music prodigyEhnes arrived at Tovey’s office one day with his father Alan, a music professor at Brandon University, and the 12-year-old knocked Tovey’s socks off with brilliant solos. That first meeting between Tovey and Ehnes has become a piece of Manitoba musical lore that rivals the Guess Who legends Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings or Neil Young’s formative years in Winnipeg.Īs the story goes, Tovey was urged by orchestra members to hear the Brandon youngster. Quite apart from being such a great musician, he was a great guy and is sorely missed.”Įhnes’ Saturday performance will be the latest of seemingly countless collaborations with the orchestra, going back to when he was a schoolboy prodigy from Brandon. “He managed to be both larger than life and completely down to earth. “He was just such a huge part of Manitoba life during the last period of time I actually lived in Manitoba, so I always think of him in Winnipeg, and a certain force of nature he was in that community, and all the lasting contributions he made to Winnipeg artistic life. “I think for me, the orchestra will always be linked with him,” Ehnes says from his home in Florida. Tovey, who died of cancer July 12 at age 69, will no doubt be in Ehnes’s thoughts, not to mention the thoughts of those in the audience who were drawn to the WSO while the charismatic Englishman held the baton at the concert hall. 61 with the WSO and music director Daniel Raiskin Saturday night, became a regular guest soloist at symphony concerts not long after he met Bramwell Tovey in 1989, right around the time Tovey began a memorable 12-year tenure as the symphony’s music director. (Benjamin Ealovega photo)Įhnes, who will perform Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61 with the WSO and music director Daniel Raiskin Saturday. James Ehnes, will perform Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. “I’d love to think I have some small role in an orchestra that has meant a great deal to me.” How is that possible?” Ehnes says with a chuckle. I saw the WSO as a child as a long-standing, firmly established organization and now that I’m older it’s - wait a second, I’ve been involved with the WSO for almost half of its existence. When the 45-year-old violinist takes the stage Saturday at the Centennial Concert Hall, it will be the latest of seemingly countless collaborations with the orchestra, going back to when he was a schoolboy prodigy from Brandon.
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