YMS Announces New Director of Music

We are delighted to announce that the renowned violist Rosalind Ventris has been appointed as our next Director of Music, succeeding Ashley Wass in September 2025. 

Rosalind, who will become the first female Director of Music in the history of YMS, is currently Director of Performance at Oxford University, Professor of Viola at the Guildhall, and Artistic Director of the Cowbridge Music Festival. Rosalind leads an international career as a soloist and chamber musician. Her recent album, SOLA, received great critical acclaim and was nominated for a BBC Music Magazine Award, and she will be performing in the near future in concerts at the Wigmore Hall and the Concertgebouw. 

Robin Harskin, Head of YMS, said: “We are thrilled that Rosalind will be joining us as Director of Music. Rosalind is a proven performer and pedagogue of the highest order, but, even more importantly, she is a deeply empathetic person who wholeheartedly supports Menuhin’s ideals for the school and for the role of music in shaping a better world.’”

Rosalind said: “I am absolutely delighted to take up the role of Director of Music at The Yehudi Menuhin School. Menuhin’s holistic ethos when he set up the school, fusing artistic excellence with social conscience and intellectual curiosity, is one I believe in passionately as a musician and educator. I am so excited to take Menuhin’s vision forward into the future, working alongside the school’s talented staff and students. I feel enormously privileged to be entrusted with this role to nurture and empower these exceptional young musicians.”

We look forward to welcoming Rosalind to the school next term.