At the age of four, James Ehnes began playing the violin. Fast-forward 30 years later and the Brandon product is a world-renowned music artist.

His credentials speak for themselves. He won numerous competitions as a teen and in 2002, was named the young artist of the year at the Cannes Classical Awards.

Ehnes, 34, was recently nominated for a fourteenth Juno award (winning six times). His latest album, a solo violin effort, has been nominated for best classical album.

“It’s always exciting to be nominated,” said Ehnes. “It’s always nice to get this kind of recognition. When you make a recording, you put so much time and effort into it. When it hits the market, when it’s released, it’s out of your hands. It’s probably sort of how parents feel when they put their kids out into the world. There’s really not much they can do at that point. You just hope that people respond to it well and will feel about it the same way you do.”

For years, Ehnes has toured the world displaying his music talents for all to see. He’s made stops in 35 different countries along the way including Scotland, Germany and Amsterdam and says touring is a big part of his life nowadays.

“My life sort of takes me here, there and everywhere,” said Ehnes. “The only part of the world I haven’t seen is Africa. They don’t have much of a classical music scene there.

“It’s a lot of fun,” continues Ehnes. “It’s tiring but it’s a great opportunity to see the world. It’s not the same as being a tourist of course. When I go places, I have to focus on what I’m doing but it certainly is interesting from a purely unmusical point of view to see different places and meet different people and see the way different societies work.”

Son of Barbara, the current owner and director of the Brandon School of Dance and Alan, a trumpeter and music teacher at Brandon University, Ehnes says he tries his best to take his parents with him every once in a while to different parts of the world.

“We get to meet up sometimes at different places,” said Ehnes. “That’s always fun. I’ve taken each of my parents on a couple of trips over the years. They’re both retiring at the end of this year so that’s going to open up some more free time with them. Hopefully there will be more chances to see them as time goes by.”

Ehnes says playing the violin all these years is a little unusual due to the fact his father plays a different instrument.

“It would have been more understandable I guess if I played the trumpet but for some reason I really wanted to play the violin,” said Ehnes. “There were no violinists in our family. It’s a bit mysterious but the violin was something I was always drawn to and always enjoyed. I don’t know what to make of it. Sometimes there are just mysterious things like this where you know from a pretty early age what it is you want to do.”

Ehnes was recently in Brandon playing a recital at Brandon University and was also in Vancouver during the Winter Olympics.

“I performed there, that was pretty exciting,” said Ehnes. “The hoopla in Vancouver was off the charts.”

He says he was unable to attend any of the sporting events at the Olympics but did get to watch the men’s hockey gold medal game on television.

“I was pretty fired up like the rest of Canada. It was absolutely incredible. I love hockey.”