Vancouver-born violist Eleanor Kendra James is currently based in Wiesbaden, Germany.

She was awarded the “Primrose Prize” at the 2014 Primrose International Viola Competition and was named a Young Artist of the Year in 2015 by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Kendra has appeared at chamber music festivals including Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Krzyżowa-Music, Young Euro Classic Berlin, Schleswig Holstein Musik Festival, Prussia Cove, and Menuhin Festival Gstaad. She studied at The Colburn School with Paul Coletti, at Yale University with Ettore Causa, and finished her studies with Nils Mönkemeyer at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München.

Since 2020, she has been Principal Violist of the Hessian State Orchestra in Wiesbaden, and is a regular guest in the same role with the West German Radio Orchestra, Hessian Radio Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Deutsche Oper Berlin.