Hope will assume the role of intendant and artistic director from 1 November 2025, continuing the legacy of the festival’s founder, Yehudi Menuhin

DanielHopeHeadshotcDanielWaldhecker_6

Violinist Daniel Hope © Daniel Waldhecker

Read more news stories here

The Gstaad Menuhin Festival & Academy has announced the appointment of violinist Daniel Hope as its incoming intendant and artistic director. Hope will succeed Christoph Müller, who will be leaving Gstaad at the end of the 2025 festival after 24 years of leadership.

Hope has a long-standing relationship with the festival, having attended since he was a child while his mother, Eleanor Hope, was entrusted with the festival’s artistic administration by the founder, Yehudi Menuhin.

’The Gstaad Menuhin Festival was the starting point of my relationship with music: it was here that I had my first ever encounter with classical music as a small child,’ said Hope. ’It was also where I was allowed to turn the pages for the festival artists from the age of eleven, and when I finally made my official debut at the festival in August 1992, Yehudi Menuhin himself was sitting in the audience.’

On his appointment, Hope said: ’Gstaad is so much a part of my musical DNA that it doesn’t matter where I am in the world. Music and the Bernese Oberland - for me, this is the perfect symbiosis.’

Hope has recently moved from Berlin to Switzerland and will begin his new role from 1 November 2025. He will begin his directorship of the 2026 Gstaad Menuhin Festival, which will be the festival’s 70th edition.

’I am thrilled that we have been able to appoint Daniel Hope as Christoph Müller’s successor,’ commented Aldo Kropf, chairman of the board of directors and the appointment committee.

’He brings with him a worldwide network and the necessary experience for this demanding role, which will be a great asset for the festival and the Gstaad Saanenland region. His close connection to our festival, its founder Yehudi Menuhin, and to the Saanenland will also be extremely valuable for us.’

Best of Technique

In The Best of Technique you’ll discover the top playing tips of the world’s leading string players and teachers. It’s packed full of exercises for students, plus examples from the standard repertoire to show you how to integrate the technique into your playing.

Masterclass

The Strad’s Masterclass series brings together the finest string players with some of the greatest string works ever written. Always one of our most popular sections, Masterclass has been an invaluable aid to aspiring soloists, chamber musicians and string teachers since the 1990s.

Calendars

American collector David L. Fulton amassed one of the 20th century’s finest collections of stringed instruments. This year’s calendar pays tribute to some of these priceless treasures, including Yehudi Menuhin’s celebrated ‘Lord Wilton’ Guarneri, the Carlo Bergonzi once played by Fritz Kreisler, and four instruments by Antonio Stradivari.