Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin was a Russian Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Russian Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985. He is often considered to be one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century.

There are few great musicians whose careers have enjoyed both the productivity and longevity of Yehudi Menuhin's. Indeed, he was a child prodigy in the U.S. in the 1920s, as beloved by audiences as child film star Shirley Temple was in the '30s. But unlike many prodigies, his career has never waned. For decades he has been active not only in music, but also in promoting human rights and international understanding; as such, he is one of the world's most admired, respected, and honored figures.

Menuhin was born in 1916 in New York City to Russian Jewish immigrants who were both teachers. In 1918 the family moved to San Francisco. Because he exhibited a precocious interest in music, Menuhin's parents granted his request for a violin, and he began studying in the San Francisco area, first with Sigmund Anker and then with San Francisco Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Louis Persinger. His first professional appearance came at the age of seven, at Oakland Auditorium in Oakland, California.

Fate smiled on the Menuhins in 1924 when a family friend introduced them to Sidney Ehrman, a San Francisco lawyer and philanthropist. Ehrman was so taken by Yehudi's musical talent, and by that of his sisters Yaltah and Hephzibah, that he volunteered to pay for the family's expenses in order for the children to pursue their musical careers. His generosity allowed the family to go to Europe, where Yehudi studied with the violinist Georges Enesco; the family followed Enesco back to the U.S. in 1927.

It was that year that Menuhin made his Carnegie Hall debut, an appearance that launched him to instant stardom