experimenting.

Have you all heard about this story of Joshua Bell on the DC metro?  (FYI, this is from 2007 but still fascinating!). Bell was a onetime child prodigy and is a grammy award-winning violinist. Bell is an internationally acclaimed virtuoso and he has filled Boston's Symphony Hall, won the Avery Fisher Prize and the list of accomplishments goes on. Anyways, in 2007, Bell in coordination with the Washington Post, went incognito at the L'Enfant Plaza metro stop and played for 45 minutes on his $3.5 million dollar Gibson ex Huberman violin that was handcrafted in 1713 by Antonio Stradivari during the Italian master's "golden period". He played Bach's "Chaconne" which is apparently considered one of the most difficult violin pieces to master and which he had also just performed in concert to a standing room only crowd. 

This was all for an experiment, as the WashPost said, an "experiment in context, perception and priorities". Well, in the 45 minutes that Bell played, 7 people stopped. He made $32 total and over a 1,000 people rushed by without a pause. Amazing! There is a full write up and video of it here on the Washington Post and NPR also did a story on it here that you can listen to. 

So, there you have it! Remember to stop and listen to the good music on the street and in the metro!