Joel Ryce-Menuhin

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Joel Ryce-Menuhin was a Jungian psychologist in private practice, and was editor of a book entitled Jung and the Monotheisms. He was formerly editor of the Jungian journal Harvest.

Joel Ryce-Menuhin was born Joel Taylor Rice in Sterling, Whiteside County, Illinois on June 11, 1933 to Joseph Kenneth Rice (1901-1998) and Emily Bours Thompson Rice (1898-1982). A a young age he showed considerable talent as a pianist. While studying in London with famed pianist Dame Myra Hess in 1959, Joel Ryce was introduced to Yaltah Menuhin, sister of violinist Yehudi Menuhin, who had come to play in the Bath Festival. A year later, after their marriage in America, on Joel's 27th birthday in 1960, the young pianists were invited to play together at a festival in California. They so enjoyed this first performance, that they subsequently devoted a large portion of their time each season to joint appearances, playing solos, duets and works for two pianos and television appearances in New York, Paris and Geneva.

In 1962, the Duo won the coveted Harriet Cohen International Music Award for their London debut, in a programme largely devoted to works by Schubert for four hands. In 1966, they performed the Mozart Double Piano Concerto under the baton of Yehudi Menuhin in Gstaad, Switzerland and other venues in Europe. In 1967, Yaltah and Joel recorded the entire duet repertoire of Mozart in America for Everest Records, the first time ever that this was done by one team of artists.

During their annual tours in America and Europe, they gave many charity performances, for such organizations as the Swiss Technical Overseas Relief, for mental hospitals, needy infants in Germany, the World Day of Peace at the Lausanne Swiss National Exposition and for the opening of United Nations Week in London.

Physical illness forced Joel to end his musical career in 1971. In 1972 and 1973, strongly supported by Yaltah, he studied psychology in Switzerland with the founder of Sandplay Therapy, Dora Kalff, and became a highly regarded Jungian psychotherapist.

Yaltah and Joel spent almost 40 years together and were devoted to each other. Following an extended struggle with cancer, Joel died on 31 March 1998, with Yaltah at his side. Yaltah continued to live in their home in Canfield Gardens, Hampstead, England where she died on 9 June 2001.