The Yehudi Menuhin School Announces Inaugural Artist and Composer in Residence

Clarinetist Julian Bliss and composer Sally Beamish will assume the newly-created roles for the 2023/24 school year

Founded by violinist Yehudi Menuhin in 1963 for musically gifted children worldwide, the Yehudi Menuhin School (YMS) now provides holistic education for 90 students aged between 11 and 19, with specialist tuition on strings, piano, and classical guitar.

British clarinetist Julian Bliss and British composer Sally Beamish will serve as YMS’s first Artist in Residence and Composer in Residence, respectively, as of the 2023/24 academic year. 

In his new role, Bliss will perform Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time with students for a Remembrance Day Showcase on November 11, 2023, and play with his jazz Septet, which will close YMS’s Autumn/Winter season.

Recently, he also made his Menuhin Hall debut performing Schumann’s works alongside violist and conductor Maxim Rysanov and pianist Dasol Kim. 

As Composer in Residence, Beamish will work directly with students for concert preparations, plus present seminars and workshops about her career and compositions, and provide coaching for composers studying at YMS.

Her works will feature in concerts throughout the year and as an accomplished violist, she will perform her Partita for String Octet with YMS students on December 11, 2023, as part of The Menuhin Hall’s Winter Festival.

“I am honored to be Artist in Residence at The Yehudi Menuhin School this year,” Bliss said. “Through this appointment, I hope to provide the students experience in performing with an instrument that is not taught at the school.”

“I look forward very much to meeting the pupils, sharing ideas, and playing together,” Beamish added. “In particular, I look forward very much to taking part in a performance of Partita for String Octet at The Menuhin Hall.” 

“We’re honored that two musicians of the stature of Julian and Sally have agreed to support the pupils of YMS, and we look forward to many months of exciting collaborations and educational rewards,” expressed YMS director of music, Ashley Wass.

“Sally has been a major figure in my professional life, having written several works for me over the years, and I know her to be a remarkably generous person, whose insights and experience will undoubtedly enrich the lives of our pupils,” Wass continued. “Julian is one of the world’s great clarinetists, and his excellence across numerous artistic genres will serve as a wonderful example to the YMS community. I can’t wait to welcome both of them to our school.”