Menuhin's Masterclass

Violinist Yehudi Menuhin is interviewed in the grounds of Dartington Hall where he is conducting masterclasses. In 1960 he had moved to London with his ex-ballet dancer wife Diana Gould and two children. He founded the Yehudi Menuhin International Music School in 1961 whose alumni include Nicola Benedetti and Nigel Kennedy. He also founded the charity Live Music Now. Yehudi was made a life peer in 1993. His archive is curated by the Royal Academy of Music.

Born to Lithuanian Jews in New York, he was brought up in California. His first solo performance was in 1923 with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra under the tutelage of Louis Presinger. Debuts in New York and London followed and the family moved to Paris in 1931 where he was mentored by George Enescu. He appeared in the film Stage Door Canteen (1943) and gave over 500 concerts for servicemen during the Second World War including a concert with Benjamin Britten in Bergen Belsen concentration camp after Liberation. He played with many musicians including Ravi Shankar, Stéphane Grappelli and his own sister Hephzibah. He is credited with bringing B K S Iyengar to teach yoga in London, Paris and Switzerland.