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The Menuhin Festival Gstaad is a Swiss music festival founded by the violinist Yehudi Menuhin in 1957. [1] It takes place in the Swiss alpine town of Gstaad every summer, and was started after a local director of tourism asked Menuhin to "enhance the summer season with some concerts." [2]
The Menuhin family settled in Gstaad in 1957, the year of the first Menuhin Festival Gstaad. Early participants included Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears. [3] It now consists of more than 50 concerts over a period of seven weeks, with a vast array of famous soloists and ensembles alike.
In 2012, it was held between Friday, 20 July and 8 September. Although Gstaad is the main focus of activities, many events take place in other venues in the Bernese Oberland. In 2012, the first concert was a recital by British violinist Julia Fischer in the church at Saanen. Other prominent soloists include pianist András Schiff, soprano Cecilia Bartoli, and cellist Sol Gabetta.