4.08.2007
Joshua Bell Plays with Joe Public
Of course the first question, if you're anywhere near as much of an uncultured git as me, is who in samhell is Joshua Bell? It turns out he's one of the world's best violinists: "One biographically intriguing fact about Bell is that he got his first music lessons when he was a 4-year-old in Bloomington, Ind. His parents, both psychologists, decided formal training might be a good idea after they saw that their son had strung rubber bands across his dresser drawers and was replicating classical tunes by ear, moving drawers in and out to vary the pitch." Um... freak? I'd beat my kid if he tried a stunt like that. Heh.
Now what do you think would happen if Joshua Bell lost his context? Imagine a guy, who usually plays to packed concert halls, worldwide, for $1000 a minute, dressing up like a slightly scruffy street musician to play for tips in a downtown plaza. He busts out a a multimillion dollar Stradivarius and plays some of the most complex and beautiful classical music ever written, but it's for a bunch of busy morning commuters. Guess what happens...
