Ian began playing violin at age 5 and studied classically for over a decade before transitioning to guitar. He started violin with the Suzuki method and then advanced to Toronto Conservatory Classical curriculum, also studying piano with renowned jazz educator and author Lloyd Abrams.
He started his professional career as guitarist/violinist for Capitol/EMI recording artists Strange Advance. Over the years he has appeared on hundreds of recordings and has played live or in session with innumerable artists including Shania Twain, Mike Reno (Loverboy), Bobby Kimball (Toto), Jimi Jameson (Survivor) and countless other talented musicians and singers worldwide.
His work has twice been nominated for a GRAMMY® award. First in 2013 as composer and violinist in the pop instrumental category for the album Rumbadoodle with Singapore based producer Arun Shenoy. The second nomination was in 2015 for violin, guitar and mandolin in the world music category for the album Voyager with Catherine Duc. He has collaborated on-line with producers, songwriters and musicians worldwide since 2000 and is the leading provider of digital violin content through his sites efiddler.com violinloops.com and fiddleloops.com.
Out of thousands of performances, the most unusual gig to date would be playing violin for the King and Queen of Malaysia at the royal palace in Kuala Lumpur.