Association of Music Personnel in Public Radio 
Spring 1999 

     Violinist Yehudi Menuhin died of heart failure in Berlin on March 12 at the age of 83. He was born in 1916 in New York of Russian Jewish parents, and debuted to an astonished San Francisco audience at age 7. Four years later, he played at New York’s Carnegie Hall with the New York Symphony Orchestra under the direction German conductor Fritz Busch. By 13 he was celebrated in Berlin, Paris, and London. 

     Sir Yehudi addressed the Music Personnel Conference when it was held in Las Vegas in February, 1990, at a luncheon that preceded his performance with the English String Orchestra at the University of Nevada. 

     “I’m afraid for the future,” he said. “We have many wonderful musicians, and we need people who can understand them.... It is not fair to limit this music to the elite. We all inherited this music..., and you [public radio programmers] are making people aware of that heritage.” 

     He said that public radio programmers of classical music are the hope for the future. Music, along with the environment and age in which each kind of music was composed and played, should be given more emphasis in our schools; but it is up to public radio programmers to keep the music available and presented well. “We need people like public broadcasters to bring this activity into the schools.” 

     “The transfer of our knowledge is no longer hereditary,” he said. “Musicians do not learn their craft from their parents.... We now live in a world which has cut us off from the past. It is up to some of us to keep alive the understanding of a range of human achievement that preserves the best of beauty. 

     He stated that the modern world has two very different groups of people—one that is tied to its own traditions and rooted in history, and one that is an abstract culture that takes off into space. “We need to marry these diverse approaches to education, as they are both important,” he said. “We need roots. We need to cultivate our roots and, just like a tree, we can grow into space with our roots holding us in place.” 

     Sir Yehudi spoke with pleasure of his association with Stephane Grappelli and jazz, saying that jazz audiences are especially appreciative. “Whenever something catches their fancy, they smile,” he said. “In my experience, most come to concerts grave, and when the music ends, they applaud. It was wonderful to perform with Grappelli because the audience recognized the finest points and appreciated them openly.”