Joshua David Bell is an American
Grammy AwardA Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-winning
violinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist.
Childhood
Bell was born in
Bloomington, IndianaBloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the southern region of the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 80,405 at the 2010 census....
,
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the son of a psychologist and a therapist. Bell's father is the late Alan P. Bell, Professor Emeritus of Indiana University, in Bloomington, a former
Kinsey researcherThe Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction is a nonprofit research institute at Indiana University. It was established in Bloomington, Indiana in 1947...
.
Bell began taking violin lessons at the age of four after his mother discovered her son had taken rubber bands from around the house and stretched them across the handles of his dresser drawer to pluck out music he had heard her play on the piano. His parents got a scaled-to-size violin for their then five-year-old son and started giving him lessons. A bright student, Bell took to the instrument but lived an otherwise normal midwest Indiana life playing video games and excelling at sports, namely tennis and bowling, even placing in a national tennis tournament at the age of ten.
Bell studied as a boy first under Donna Bricht, widow of Indiana University music faculty member
Walter BrichtWalter Bricht was a noted Austrian-American pianist, composer and teacher.-Early life:Born in Vienna Bricht was exposed to multiple musical influences from his youth. His father, Balduin Bricht, was a music critic for the Volkszeitung, a newspaper in Vienna...
. His second teacher was Mimi Zweig, and then he switched to the violinist and pedagogue
Josef GingoldJosef Gingold was a Russian-Jewish-born classical violinist and teacher, who lived most of his life in the United States...
after Bell's parents assured Gingold that they were not interested in pushing their son in the study of the violin but simply wanted him to have the best teacher for his abilities. Satisfied that the boy was living a normal life, Gingold took Bell on as his student. By age 12, Bell was serious about the instrument, thanks in large part to Gingold's inspiration.
At the age of 14, Bell appeared as a soloist with the
Philadelphia OrchestraThe Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...
conducted by
Riccardo MutiRiccardo Muti, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI is an Italian conductor and music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.-Childhood and education:...
. He studied the violin at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, while managing to graduate from
Bloomington High School NorthBloomington High School North is a comprehensive four-year public high school located in the northern part of Bloomington, Indiana, United States and is accredited by the Indiana State Department of Public Instruction and the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools...
in 1984, In 1989, Bell received an Artist Diploma in Violin Performance from Indiana University. His alma mater also honored him with a Distinguished Alumni Service Award only two years after his graduation. He has been named an “Indiana Living Legend” and received the Indiana Governor’s Arts Award.
Career
Joshua Bell made his
Carnegie HallCarnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
debut in 1985 with the
Saint Louis Symphony OrchestraThe Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra based in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1880 by Joseph Otten as the St. Louis Choral Society, the SLSO is the second-oldest symphony orchestra in the United States as it is preceded by the New York Philharmonic.-History:The St...
. He has since performed with almost all of the world's major orchestras and conductors. As well as the standard concerto repertoire, Bell has performed new works—
Nicholas MawJohn Nicholas Maw was a British composer.-Biography:Born in Grantham, Lincolnshire, Maw was the son of Clarence Frederick Maw and Hilda Ellen Chambers. He attended the Wennington School, a boarding school, in Wetherby in the West Riding of Yorkshire. His mother died of tuberculosis when he was 14...
's violin concerto is dedicated to him, the recording of which won Bell a Grammy and gave the world premiere of the work in 1993. He performed the solo part on
John CoriglianoJohn Corigliano is an American composer of classical music and a teacher of music. He is a distinguished professor of music at Lehman College in the City University of New York.-Biography:...
's Oscar-winning soundtrack for the film
The Red ViolinThe Red Violin is a 1998 Canadian drama film directed by François Girard. It spans three centuries and five countries as it tells the story of a mysterious violin and its many owners...
and was also featured in
Ladies in LavenderThe film's original music was written by Nigel Hess and performed by Joshua Bell and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Hess received a Classical BRIT Awards nomination for Best Soundtrack Composer....
. Bell also made an appearance in the movie
Music of the HeartMusic of the Heart is a 1999 dramatic film. This film was produced by Craven-Maddalena Films and Miramax Films, and distributed by Buena Vista Distribution.The film stars Meryl Streep, Aidan Quinn, Gloria Estefan, and Angela Bassett...
, a story about the power of music, with other notable violinists.
Bell's instrument is a 300-year-old
StradivariusThe name Stradivarius is associated with violins built by members of the Stradivari family, particularly Antonio Stradivari. According to their reputation, the quality of their sound has defied attempts to explain or reproduce, though this belief is controversial...
violin called the
Gibson ex HubermanThe Gibson ex-Huberman Stradivarius of 1713 is an antique violin fabricated by Antonio Stradivari of Cremona. The Gibson, while owned by Bronisław Huberman, was stolen twice...
, which was made in 1713 during what is known as
Antonio StradivariAntonio Stradivari was an Italian luthier and a crafter of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas, and harps. Stradivari is generally considered the most significant artisan in this field. The Latinized form of his surname, Stradivarius, as well as the colloquial, "Strad", is...
's "Golden Era." This violin had been stolen twice from the previous owner, Bronisław Huberman; the last time the thief confessed to the act on his deathbed. Bell had held and played the violin, and its owner at the time jokingly told Bell the violin could be his for four million dollars. Shortly thereafter, by chance, Bell came across the violin again and discovered it was about to be sold to a
GermanThe Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
industrialist to become part of a collection. According to the Joshua Bell website, Bell "was practically in tears." Bell then reportedly sold his current
StradivariusThe name Stradivarius is associated with violins built by members of the Stradivari family, particularly Antonio Stradivari. According to their reputation, the quality of their sound has defied attempts to explain or reproduce, though this belief is controversial...
, the
Tom TylerThe Tom Taylor Stradivarius is an antique violin made by renowned luthier Antonio Stradivari in Cremona, Italy circa 1732.The Tom Taylor is best known for its use in the recording and appearance in the Canadian film The Red Violin. It was played by Joshua Bell.The Tom Taylor was sold by Joshua Bell...
, for a little more than two million dollars and made the purchase of the Gibson ex Huberman for a little under the four million dollar asking price. As with his previous Stradivarius violin, Bell entrusts the upkeep of the Gibson ex Huberman to expert
luthierA luthier is someone who makes or repairs lutes and other string instruments. In the United States, the term is used interchangeably with a term for the specialty of each maker, such as violinmaker, guitar maker, lute maker, etc...
Emmanuel Gradoux-MattEmmanuel Gradoux-Matt is an internationally known and respected luthier, CEO and founder of Gradoux-Matt Rare Violins, LLC. He serves on the board of the Long Island Conservatory of Music, the Aspen Music Festival, the Marlboro Music Festival, and the Heifetz International Music Institute and...
. His first recording made with the Gibson ex Huberman was Romance of the Violin (under
Sony ClassicalSony Classical Records was started in 1927 as Columbia Masterworks Records, a subsidiary of the American Columbia Records. In 1948, it issued the first commercially successful long-playing 12" record...
) in 2003. It sold more than 5 million copies and remained at the top of classical music charts for 54 weeks. Joshua Bell's most recent CD is called At Home With Friends and was released September 29, 2009. It features Bell playing with artists of varied musical backgrounds, such as Chris Botti, Kristin Chenoweth, Regina Spektor, and Sting.
Bell is an artistic partner for the
Saint Paul Chamber OrchestraThe Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra , based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, is the United States' only full-time professional chamber orchestra...
(starting in the 2004–2005 season) and a visiting professor at the
Royal Academy of MusicThe Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
in London. He also serves on the artists selection committee for the
Kennedy Center HonorsThe Kennedy Center Honors is an annual honor given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture. The Honors have been presented annually since 1978 in Washington, D.C., during gala weekend-long events which culminate in a performance for—and...
and is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the
Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyThe Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
.
Bell was awarded the
Avery Fisher PrizeThe Avery Fisher Prize is an award given to American musicians for outstanding achievement in classical music. Founded by philanthropist Avery Fisher in 1974, it is regarded as one of the most significant awards for American instrumentalists. The award is decided by members of the Avery Fisher...
on April 10, 2007, at Lincoln Center in New York City. The prize is given once every few years to classical instrumentalists for outstanding achievement. On May 3, 2007, the
Indiana UniversityIndiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
Jacobs School of Music announced that Bell had joined the faculty as a senior lecturer.
Bell collaborated with film composer
Hans ZimmerHans Florian Zimmer is a German film composer and music producer. He has composed music for over 100 films, including critically acclaimed film scores for The Lion King , Crimson Tide , The Thin Red Line , Gladiator , The Dark Knight and Inception .Zimmer spent the early part of his career in the...
by providing violin solos for the soundtrack for the 2009 film,
Angels and DemonsAngels & Demons is a 2009 American mystery-thriller film directed by Ron Howard and based on Dan Brown's novel by the same name. It is the Interquel or third film, although the book was published first in series chronology. Filming of Angels & Demons took place in Rome, Italy, and the Sony Pictures...
, based on
Dan BrownDan Brown is an American author of thriller fiction, best known for the 2003 bestselling novel, The Da Vinci Code. Brown's novels, which are treasure hunts set in a 24-hour time period, feature the recurring themes of cryptography, keys, symbols, codes, and conspiracy theories...
's 2000
novel of the same nameAngels & Demons is a 2000 bestselling mystery-thriller novel written by American author Dan Brown and published by Pocket Books. The novel introduces the character Robert Langdon, who is also the protagonist of Brown's subsequent 2003 novel, The Da Vinci Code, and 2009 novel, The Lost Symbol...
.
On May 26, 2011, Joshua Bell was named Music Director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
Washington Post experiment
In an experiment initiated by Washington Post columnist
Gene WeingartenGene Weingarten is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist known for both his serious and humorous work...
, Bell donned a baseball cap and played as an incognito street
buskerStreet performance or busking is the practice of performing in public places, for gratuities, which are generally in the form of money and edibles...
at the Metro subway station
L'Enfant PlazaL'Enfant Plaza is a Washington Metro station in the Southwest Federal Center neighborhood of Washington, D.C., United States. The station was opened on July 1, 1977, and is operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority...
in
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
on January 12, 2007. The experiment was videotaped on hidden camera; among 1,097 people who passed by, only seven stopped to listen to him, and only one recognized him. For his nearly 45-minute performance, Bell collected $32.17 from 27 passersby (excluding $20 from the passerby who recognized him). Weingarten won the 2008
Pulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
for feature writing for his article on the experiment.
Selected discography
| Year |
Album |
Billboard Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Classical |
Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
|
| 1988 |
BruchMax Christian Friedrich Bruch , also known as Max Karl August Bruch, was a German Romantic composer and conductor who wrote over 200 works, including three violin concertos, the first of which has become a staple of the violin repertoire.-Life:Bruch was born in Cologne, Rhine Province, where he...
MendelssohnMendelson is a Polish/German Jewish family name, meaning "son of Mendel", Mendel being a Yiddish diminutive of the Hebrew given name Menahem, meaning "consoling" or "one who consoles".Mendelssohn is the surname of a number of people:...
Violin Concertos, London Records |
— |
— |
| 1989 |
Faure Gabriel Urbain Fauré was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th century composers...
Debussy FranckCésar-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck was a composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher who worked in Paris during his adult life....
Violin Sonatas with Jean-Yves Thibaudet-Early life:Jean-Yves Thibaudet was born in Lyon, France, to non-professional musical parents. His father played the violin, and his mother, of German origin and a somewhat accomplished pianist herself, introduced the instrument to Jean-Yves....
, Decca Records |
— |
— |
| 1990 |
Presenting Joshua Bell, Polygram Records |
— |
— |
| 1991 |
Chausson Amédée-Ernest Chausson was a French romantic composer who died just as his career was beginning to flourish.-Life:Ernest Chausson was born in Paris into a prosperous bourgeois family...
Concerto, Ravel Piano Trio, London Records |
— |
— |
| 1992 |
Saint-Saens: Violin Concerto #3 /Chausson Amédée-Ernest Chausson was a French romantic composer who died just as his career was beginning to flourish.-Life:Ernest Chausson was born in Paris into a prosperous bourgeois family...
: Poeme, London Records |
— |
— |
| 1995 |
Prokofiev: Violin Concertos & Sonatas, London Records |
— |
— |
| 1995 |
Brahms /SchumannRobert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
Violin Concertos, London Records |
— |
— |
| 1996 |
The Kreisler Friedrich "Fritz" Kreisler was an Austrian-born violinist and composer. One of the most famous violin masters of his or any other day, he was known for his sweet tone and expressive phrasing. Like many great violinists of his generation, he produced a characteristic sound which was immediately...
Album, London Records |
— |
— |
| 1997 |
BarberA barber is someone whose occupation is to cut any type of hair, and to shave or trim the beards of men. The place of work of a barber is generally called a barbershop....
/ WaltonSir William Turner Walton OM was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera...
/ BlochBloch is a surname.#Jewish : regional name for someone in Eastern Europe originating from Italy or France, from Polish "Włoch" meaning "Italian" .#German and Swedish: Variant of Block...
Violin Concertos, Decca Records |
— |
— |
| 1997 |
Shostakovich Piano Trio No. 2, London Records |
— |
— |
| 1999 |
Nicholas Maw John Nicholas Maw was a British composer.-Biography:Born in Grantham, Lincolnshire, Maw was the son of Clarence Frederick Maw and Hilda Ellen Chambers. He attended the Wennington School, a boarding school, in Wetherby in the West Riding of Yorkshire. His mother died of tuberculosis when he was 14...
Violin Concertos, Sony Classical |
— |
— |
| 1999 |
Gershwin Fantasy, Sony Classical |
— |
— |
| 2000 |
Jean SibeliusJean Sibelius was a Finnish composer of the later Romantic period whose music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity. His mastery of the orchestra has been described as "prodigious."...
& Karl GoldmarkKarl Goldmark, also known originally as Károly Goldmark and later sometimes as Carl Goldmark; May 18, 1830, Keszthely – January 2, 1915, Vienna) was a Hungarian composer.- Life and career :...
: Violin Concertos, Sony Classical |
— |
— |
| 2000 |
Short Trip Home, with Edgar Meyer Edgar Meyer is a prominent contemporary bassist and composer. His styles include classical, bluegrass, newgrass, and jazz. Meyer has worked as a session musician in Nashville, part of various chamber groups, a composer, and an arranger...
, Sam BushSam Bush is an American bluegrass mandolin player considered an originator of the Newgrass style.- History :...
, Mike Marshall, Sony Classical |
7 |
— |
| 2001 |
Leonard BernsteinLeonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
West Side Story Suite, Sony Classical |
3 |
— |
| 2002 |
Ludwig van BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
& Felix MendelssohnJakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
: Violin Concertos, Sony Classical |
18 |
— |
| 2004 |
Romance of the Violin, Sony Classical |
2 |
176 |
| 2005 |
Pyotr Ilyich TchaikovskyPyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
: Violin Concerto, Op. 35; Melodie; Danse Russe from Swan LakeSwan Lake ballet, op. 20, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, composed 1875–1876. The scenario, initially in four acts, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger...
(Act III), Sony Classical |
9 |
— |
| 2006 |
Voice of the Violin, Sony |
2 |
— |
| 2007 |
Corigliano John Corigliano is an American composer of classical music and a teacher of music. He is a distinguished professor of music at Lehman College in the City University of New York.-Biography:...
The Red Violin, Sony |
7 |
— |
| 2007 |
The Essential Joshua Bell, Sony BMG Masterworks |
19 |
— |
| 2008 |
Antonio VivaldiAntonio Lucio Vivaldi , nicknamed because of his red hair, was an Italian Baroque composer, priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice. Vivaldi is recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe...
: The Four SeasonsThe Four Seasons is a set of four violin concertos by Antonio Vivaldi. Composed in 1723, The Four Seasons is Vivaldi's best-known work, and is among the most popular pieces of Baroque music. The texture of each concerto is varied, each resembling its respective season...
, Sony BMG MasterworksSony Masterworks is a record label. It is the result of a restructuring of Sony Music Entertainment's classical music division. Before the acquisition of Bertelsmann's shares in the former Sony BMG, the label was known as Sony BMG Masterworks....
|
1 |
134 |
| 2009 |
The Best of Joshua Bell, Sony BMG Masterworks |
12 |
— |
| 2009 |
At Home with Friends, Sony BMG Masterworks |
1 |
118 |
Soundtrack Albums
- Angels & Demons Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, 2009
- Joshua Bell, featured violinist
- Music composed by Hans Zimmer
Hans Florian Zimmer is a German film composer and music producer. He has composed music for over 100 films, including critically acclaimed film scores for The Lion King , Crimson Tide , The Thin Red Line , Gladiator , The Dark Knight and Inception .Zimmer spent the early part of his career in the...
- Defiance
Defiance is a 2008 World War II era film written, produced, and directed by Edward Zwick, set during the occupation of Belarus by Nazi Germany. The film is an account of the Bielski partisans, a group led by three Jewish brothers who saved and recruited Jews in Poland during the Second World War...
OST, 2008
- Ladies in Lavender
The film's original music was written by Nigel Hess and performed by Joshua Bell and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Hess received a Classical BRIT Awards nomination for Best Soundtrack Composer....
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, 2005: Joshua Bell, featured violinist
- The Red Violin
The Red Violin is a 1998 Canadian drama film directed by François Girard. It spans three centuries and five countries as it tells the story of a mysterious violin and its many owners...
featured violinist
External links