He is credited with expanding the audience for classical music. His 1986 recording of Vivaldi's Four Seasons sold more than 1 million copies. He retired from the classical concert platform 1992. Kennedy was educated at the Yehudi Menuhin School, Surrey, England, and the Juilliard School of Music, New York. He has allied Menuhin's ethic of openness and populism to modern marketing techniques. By cultivating a media image that challenges conventional standards of dress and decorum, he has succeeded in attracting young audiences to carefully understated performances of J S Bach, Max Bruch, and Alban Berg. His repertoire of recordings also includes jazz.
