Lord Menuhin, back in Bermuda for the 20th anniversary of the Festival he helped create, is proud of the musical seed he planted 19 years ago.

"I am so happy to come back and see that it has borne such good fruit,'' he said, referring to the Foundation formed in his name.

Tonight, he will conduct past and present Menuhin Foundation teachers and selected local musicians in a special Gala Concert at City Hall.

Speaking at a Government House press conference yesterday, Lord Menuhin said he believed, "Music is the most important element in bringing a community together and should be a part of all children's education. So, to see a very small place where this has happened over two decades is really quite encouraging.'' In 1975, Lord Menuhin donated the proceeds of a special concert to provide funds for what became the Menuhin Foundation. Since then, thousands of the Island's primary school children have received free musical tuition from teachers employed by the Foundation.

The child prodigy who went on to become one of this century's greatest violinists has also devoted much of his life to humanitarian causes. The 79-year old musician has received countless awards for his activities around the world and was appointed Ambassador of Goodwill for the United Nations.

"I would like to thank the members of the Menuhin Foundation, all the teachers and those who had worked so hard to bring music to Bermuda's school children.'' He also had a special word of thanks for his old friend, former Governor, Sir Edwin Leather.

"He led my festival in Bath and as soon as he had it in hand, it was very well run. We have remained fast friends ever since.'' Referring to the Bermuda Festival, Lord Menuhin said, "Your Festival is wonderful -- we would have been very proud of that in Bath! So I'm happy to be here to renew and mark the passage of time. Since then, Sir Edwin's wife has died and, also, my sister (renowned pianist Hephzibah Menuhin), but we have to continue doing the best we can. I am happy that I have this little toe-hold in Bermuda.'' Cautioning that Bermuda must work hard to preserve the Island's unique character, Lord Menuhin went on to say, "People in general love to sing and to be happy. Recently, western civilisation has gone against that. We have created our own terrorists. So to come to a place that is well-balanced, free and healthy, gives a certain reassurance. People who want to cut with the past, I don't trust -- and I don't trust people who don't work for the future.

That is, the future of our children. Any violent cut cuts out the past and the future and, unfortunately, we tend to live in the instant, today.'' He said that today more and more people around the world are being driven from their lands "and we don't do anything to help. We create intolerable conditions in which people have to live, even in cities like New York and San Francisco. There are people there dying of hunger and living off soup kitchens. I know, because I have played for these people.'' Lord Menuhin said his latest project was to take his philosophy of music as a civiliser and educator into some of the "bad'' schools in nine countries of Europe. He was very gratified to visit three of the schools and find, after only ten weeks when students had been encouraged to "sing and dance together,'' the atmosphere had changed completely to one of mutual trust between teachers and students.

Of Bermuda, he said, "It is wonderful that it has continued with its own identity. Although it has ancient and long associations, it has a character quite peculiarly its own. Bermuda is very free, very emancipated -- a quality that it must pursue. Altogether, Bermuda is an extraordinarily balanced world and I believe that music has helped it find that equilibrium.'' MENUHIN'S CHILDREN -- World-renowned musician Lord Menuhin was the guest of honour at a concert given in the Anglican Cathedral on Saturday by pupils of the Foundation he helped to found. Here, he is pictured with Menuhin Foundation orchestra conductor Ms Carolyn Burr and some of the 170 children who took part.

MASTER AT WORK -- The world knows him as the genius with a violin, but Lord Menuhin made a bow yesterday with a different form of instrument -- a garden trowel. The maestro got in tune with nature as he planted a rare pigeon plum tree at Government House. The tree was propagated by Mr. O'Donnell McLaughlin.