Hess, Myra (1890-1965). British pianist. Born to a Jewish family in London, England, Myra Hess began playing piano as a young child, studying at the Royal Academy of Music. In 1907 she made her debut, then toured in Britain and Europe. She made her American debut in 1922, becoming popular as a soloist and in ensembles. Cather became acquainted with her through her publishers, Alfred and Blanche Knopf. Myra Hess was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1936 and Dame Commander in 1941. During World War II, when bombings and curfews made evening concerts impossible, Hess organized thousands of weekday lunch-time concerts by eminent musicians.

Menuhin, Yehudi (1916-1999). Violinist and conductor. Born in New York City to Moshe Mnuchin and Marutha Sher Mnuchin, immigrant Russian Jews by way of Palestine who changed the spelling of their surname and moved the family to San Francisco in 1918, Yehudi started violin lessons at age four and made his first public appearance in 1922. His two younger siblings, Hepzibah and Yaltah, studied piano, although his parents prioritized the musical career of their son over their daughters. With the support of patron Sidney Ehrman, the Menuhin family followed Yehudi’s teacher Louis Persinger to New York City. Ehrman also sponsored Yehudi for a year of study in Paris, France, with Georges Enesco. Yehudi began attracting national attention in 1927 and recorded and toured the U.S. in 1929. That year at Carnegie Hall, his performance of concertos by Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms with Bruno Walter and the Berlin Philharmonic inspired Albert Einstein to proclaim “now I know there is a God in Heaven”; Cather was also in the audience for this concert. In 1930, the Menuhin family took up residence in Paris, where Cather first met them in the home of Jan Hambourg and Isabelle McClung Hambourg and became a family friend; the children called her “Aunt Willa.” In the 1930s, the Menuhin family made the Ansonia Hotel its home base during their frequent stays in New York City. Cather took the Menuhin children on walks around Central Park, read Shakespeare with them, and gave them books as gifts. Yehudi’s sister Hepzibah accompanied her brother on piano; they made their first recording together in 1933 and often performed together. The family purchased a ranch in Los Gatos, CA, in 1935, and after a world tour that year, Yehudi withdrew from performing for 18 months and stayed at the ranch with his family. He returned to the concert stage in 1937 and met and married Nola Nicholas in 1938 (Hepzibah married Nola’s brother Lindsay). Yehudi and Nola had two children, Krov and Zamira. Cather enjoyed a late life visit from Hepzibah and Yehudi and their families in 1947. Cather corresponded regularly with the adult Yehudi, giving him personal advice, although only one original letter has surfaced. In 1947, Yehudi and Nola divorced and he married British ballerina Diana Gould, with whom he had two more children. Living in Europe, he continued his career as a performer and also became a conductor, established a school in England, and became a British citizen. He died in Berlin, Germany, while on tour.

Benthall, Zamira Menuhin (1939- ). Yehudi and Nola Menuhin’s daughter. Born in Melbourne, Australia, Zamira Menuhin and her brother Krov lived in the U.S. with their mother, Nola Menuhin, while their father Yehudi Menuhin toured internationally as a violinist. After her parents’ 1947 divorce, she moved frequently with her mother. In later life, she and her second husband, Jonathan Charles Mackenzie Benthall, became important patrons of the arts in Britain.