Joshua Bell | |
|---|---|
 Bell in 2010 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | December 9, 1967 Bloomington, Indiana, US |
| Genres | Classical |
| Occupation(s) | Violinist, conductor |
| Years active | 1980s–present |
| Website | joshuabell |
Joshua David Bell (born December 9, 1967) is an American violinist and conductor. He is currently music director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
Bell was born in Bloomington, Indiana, one of four children of Shirley Bell, a therapist, and Alan P. Bell, [1] a psychologist and professor at Indiana University (IU), and former Kinsey researcher. [2] [3] His father was of Scottish descent and his mother was Jewish (her father was born in Mandatory Palestine and her mother was from Minsk). [4]
Bell began playing the violin at age four after his mother discovered that he had taken rubber bands from around the house and stretched them across the handles of his nine dresser drawers to pluck out music he had heard her play on the piano. His parents got a scaled-to-size violin for him when he was five and started giving him lessons. Bell took to the instrument but had an otherwise normal Indiana childhood, playing video games and excelling at sports, especially tennis and bowling. He placed in a national tennis tournament at age ten. [5]
Bell's first violin teacher was Donna Bricht, widow of Indiana University music faculty member Walter Bricht. [6] His second was Mimi Zweig, and his third the violinist and pedagog Josef Gingold, who accepted Bell as a student after his parents assured him that they were not interested in pushing their son to be a star but simply wanted him to have the best teacher for his abilities. By age 12, Bell was serious about the instrument, thanks in large part to Gingold's inspiration.[ citation needed ]
At age 14, Bell appeared as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Riccardo Muti. He studied violin at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and graduated from Bloomington High School North in 1984. [7] In 1989 Bell received an Artist Diploma in violin performance from Indiana University. IU also honored him with a Distinguished Alumni Service Award two years after his graduation. He has been named an "Indiana Living Legend" [8] and received the Indiana Governor's Arts Award. [9]
Bell made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1985, at age 17, with the St. Louis Symphony. In 1990, at age 22, he went on the American Russian Young Artists Orchestra's first tour of Russia. [10] [11] He has since performed with many of the world's major orchestras and conductors. As well as the standard concerto repertoire, he has performed new works. Nicholas Maw's violin concerto is dedicated to Bell, who premiered it in 1993 and won a Grammy Award for his recording. He performed the solo part on John Corigliano's Oscar-winning soundtrack to the film The Red Violin and was featured in Ladies in Lavender . He also appeared in the movie Music of the Heart , with other violinists.[ citation needed ]
Bell's instrument is the Gibson ex Huberman, a Stradivarius made in 1713 during what is known as Stradivari's "Golden Era". The violin was stolen twice from its previous owner, Bronisław Huberman; the final time, the thief confessed to the act on his deathbed. [12] Bell had played the violin; its owner at the time, violinist Norbert Brainin, jokingly told him that it could be his for $4 million. On August 3, 2001, Bell was in London to perform at The Proms; before the concert he was approached by J & A Beare. He learned that the violin was in London and about to be sold to a German industrialist to become part of a collection. Bell played the violin at the Proms that same evening. [13] He later sold his previous violin, the Tom Taylor Stradivarius, [14] for a little more than $2 million and bought the Gibson ex Huberman for a little under the $4 million asking price. The 2013 documentary The Return of the Violin tells the story of the instrument's theft, return, and subsequent acquisition by Bell. [15] Bell's first recording with the Gibson ex Huberman was Romance of the Violin for Sony Classical Records in 2003.
Bell served as artistic partner for the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra from 2004 until 2007, and as a visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He also serves on the artists' selection committee for the Kennedy Center Honors and is an adjunct associate professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. [16]
Bell won the Avery Fisher Prize 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. [17] On May 3, 2007, Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music announced that Bell had joined the faculty as a senior lecturer. [18]
In 2008, Bell received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. [19] [20] [21]
Bell collaborated with Hans Zimmer by providing violin solos for the soundtrack of the 2009 film Angels & Demons , based on Dan Brown's 2000 novel of the same name.[ citation needed ]
In May 2011, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields (ASMF) named Bell its music director. [22] [23] He has recorded commercially with the ASMF for the Sony Classical label. [24] In July 2017, the ASMF announced a three-year extension of his contract, through 2020. [25] Bell and the orchestra won the 2017 Helpmann Award for Best Individual Classical Music Performance. [26] In April 2024, the ASMF announced an additional extension of Bell's contract as its music director through August 2028. [27]
In 2013, Bell accompanied Scarlett Johansson in the song "Before My Time". Written by J. Ralph for the documentary Chasing Ice , it received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. [28]
Bell played himself in three episodes of Mozart in the Jungle in 2014, 2015, and 2016. [29] In 2016, he had a cameo in the penultimate musical episode of Royal Pains . [30] He also appeared as himself in episode 8 ("Quacktice Makes Perfect") of the 2017 Netflix original series Julie's Greenroom . [31]
In October 2024, the New Jersey Symphony announced the appointment of Bell as its new principal guest conductor, effective with the 2025–2026 season, with an initial contract of four seasons. [32]
In an experiment initiated by The Washington Post columnist Gene Weingarten, Bell donned a baseball cap and played as an incognito busker at the Metro subway station L'Enfant Plaza in Washington, D.C., on January 12, 2007. The experiment was videotaped on hidden camera; of the 1,097 people who passed by, seven stopped to listen to him, and one recognized him. For his nearly 45-minute performance, Bell collected $32.17 from 27 passersby (excluding $20 from the one who recognized him). [12] Three days earlier, he earned considerably more playing the same repertoire at a concert. Weingarten won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing for his article on the experiment. [33] [34] The Washington Post posted the video on YouTube [35] and a feature-length documentary, Find Your Way: A Busker's Documentary, chronicled Bell's experience. [36] A somewhat inaccurate retelling of the story went viral. [37]
Bell and his former partner, Lisa Matricardi, have three sons: Josef (born 2007), [38] [39] and twins Benjamin and Samuel (born 2010). [40] [41] On October 5, 2019, Bell married opera singer Larisa Martinez at their home in Mount Kisco, New York. [42] [43] They also live in the Gramercy Park neighborhood of Manhattan. [44]
| Year | Album | Billboard Classical | Billboard 200 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Bruch & Mendelssohn Violin Concertos, London Records | — | — |
| 1989 | Fauré / Debussy / Franck Violin Sonatas with Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Decca Records | — | — |
| 1989 | Saint-Saëns: Violin concerto N°3, Lalo, Symphonie Espagnole | ||
| 1990 | Presenting Joshua Bell, Polygram Records | — | — |
| 1991 | Chausson Concerto, Ravel Piano Trio, London Records | — | — |
| 1992 | Saint-Saëns: Violin Concerto No. 3 / Chausson: Poeme , London Records | — | — |
| 1995 | Prokofiev: Violin Concertos & Sonatas, London Records | — | — |
| 1995 | Brahms / Schumann Violin Concertos, London Records | — | — |
| 1996 | The Kreisler Album, London Records | — | — |
| 1997 | Barber / Walton/ Bloch Violin Concertos, Decca Records | — | — |
| 1997 | Shostakovich Piano Trio No. 2, London Records | — | — |
| 1999 | Maw Violin Concertos, Sony Classical | — | — |
| 1999 | Gershwin Fantasy, Sony Classical | — | — |
| 2000 | Sibelius & Goldmark: Violin Concertos, Sony Classical | — | — |
| 2000 | Short Trip Home, with Edgar Meyer, Sam Bush, Mike Marshall, Sony Classical | 7 | — |
| 2001 | Bernstein West Side Story Suite, Sony Classical | 3 | — |
| 2002 | Beethoven & Mendelssohn: Violin Concertos, Sony Classical | 18 | — |
| 2004 | Romance of the Violin, Sony Classical | 1 | 176 |
| 2005 | Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto, Op. 35; Melodie; Danse Russe from Swan Lake (Act III), Sony Classical | 2 | — |
| 2005 | OST Duft von Lavendel, Sony Classical | ||
| 2005 | Romance of the Violin, Sony Classical | ||
| 2006 | Voice of the Violin, Sony Classical | 1 | — |
| 2007 | Corigliano The Red Violin , Sony | 1 | — |
| 2007 | The Essential Joshua Bell, Sony BMG Masterworks | 19 | — |
| 2008 | Vivaldi: The Four Seasons , Sony BMG Masterworks | 1 | 134 |
| 2009 | Bruch, Mendelssohn, Mozart Violin Concertos (reissues), Decca | 9 | — |
| 2009 | The Best of Joshua Bell, Sony Masterworks | 12 | — |
| 2009 | At Home with Friends, Sony Masterworks with Chris Botti, Kristin Chenoweth, Regina Spektor, Anoushka Shankar, Frankie Moreno, and Sting [45] | 1 | 118 |
| 2012 | French Impressions, Sony Classical | 1 | 139 |
| 2013 | Beethoven: Symphonies Nos.4 &7 , Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Sony Masterworks | 1 | — |
| 2013 | Musical Gifts from Joshua Bell and Friends, Sony Classical | ||
| 2014 | Bach, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Sony Classical | — | — |
| 2016 | For the Love of Brahms, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Classical | — | — |
| 2017 | Joshua Bell – The Classical Collection, Sony Classical | ||
| 2017 | Brigitte Klassik zum Genießen: Joshua Bell, Sony Classical | ||
| 2018 | Bruch: Scottish Fantasy, Op. 46 / Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 26, Sony Classical | ||
| 2020 | At Home With Music [46] | ||
The Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61, was written by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1806. Its first performance by Franz Clement was unsuccessful and for some decades the work languished in obscurity, until revived in 1844 by the then 12-year-old violinist Joseph Joachim with the orchestra of the London Philharmonic Society conducted by Felix Mendelssohn. Joachim would later claim it to be the "greatest" German violin concerto. Since then it has become one of the best-known and regularly performed violin concertos.
Sir Neville Marriner, was an English conductor and violinist. Described as "one of the world's greatest conductors", Gramophone lists Marriner as one of the 50 greatest conductors and another compilation ranks Marriner #14 of the 18 "Greatest and Most Famous Conductors of All Time". He founded the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, and his partnership with them is the most recorded of any orchestra and conductor.
The Academy of St Martin in the Fields (ASMF) is an English chamber orchestra, based in London.
Edgar Meyer is an American bassist and composer. His styles include classical, bluegrass, newgrass, and jazz. He has won seven Grammy Awards and been nominated ten times.
Steven John Isserlis is a British cellist. An acclaimed soloist, chamber musician, educator, writer and broadcaster, he is widely regarded as one of the leading musicians of his generation. He is also noted for his diverse repertoire and distinctive sound which is deployed with his use of gut strings.
Midori Goto, who performs under the mononym Midori, is a Japanese-born American violinist. She made her debut with the New York Philharmonic at age 11 as a surprise guest soloist at the New Year's Eve Gala in 1982. In 1986 her performance at the Tanglewood Music Festival with Leonard Bernstein conducting his own composition made the front-page headlines in The New York Times. Midori became a celebrated child prodigy, and one of the world's preeminent violinists as an adult.
Josef Gingold was a Russian and American classical violinist and teacher who lived most of his life in the United States. At the time of his death he was considered one of the most influential violin masters in the United States, with many successful students.
Hilary Hahn is an American violinist. A three-time Grammy Award winner, she has played as a soloist with orchestras and conductors, and as a recitalist. Several composers have written works for her, including concerti by Edgar Meyer and Jennifer Higdon, partitas by Antón García Abril, two serenades for violin and orchestra by Einojuhani Rautavaara, and a violin and piano sonata by Lera Auerbach.
James Ehnes, is a Canadian concert violinist and violist.
Bronisław Huberman was a Polish violinist. He was known for his individualistic interpretations and was praised for his tone color, expressiveness, and flexibility. The Gibson ex-Huberman Stradivarius violin, which bears his name, was stolen twice and recovered once during the period in which he owned the instrument. Huberman is also remembered for founding the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and thus providing refuge from the Third Reich for nearly 1,000 European Jews.
Stefan Milenkovich is a Serbian violinist.
Leonidas Kavakos is a Greek violinist and conductor. He has won several international violin competition prizes, including the Sibelius, Paganini, Naumburg, and Indianapolis competitions. He is an Onassis Foundation scholar. He has also recorded for record labels such as Sony/BMG and BIS. As a conductor, he was an artistic director of the Camerata Salzburg and has been a guest conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra and Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Roman Totenberg was a Polish-American violinist and educator. A child prodigy, he lived in Poland, Moscow, Berlin, and Paris, before formally immigrating to the U.S. in 1938, at age 27. He performed and taught nationally and internationally throughout his life.
Augustin Hadelich is an Italian-German-American Grammy-winning classical violinist.
The Red Violin is the original soundtrack album, on the Sony Classical label, of the 1999 film The Red Violin, starring Carlo Cecchi, Sandra Oh and Samuel L. Jackson. The original score and songs were composed by John Corigliano and performed by Philharmonia Orchestra with Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting.
Endre Granat is an American violinist. He is regarded as the most recorded violinist and concertmaster working in the studios today.
David Christian Bongartz, known by his stage name David Garrett, is a German classical and crossover violinist and recording artist.
Ray Chen is a Taiwanese-Australian violinist. He was the winner of the 2008 International Yehudi Menuhin Violin Competition and the 2009 Queen Elisabeth Competition. Since then, he has regularly collaborated with the world’s foremost orchestras and appeared at renowned concert halls.
Thomas Gould is a British violinist and the leader of Britten Sinfonia, as well as former leader of Aurora Orchestra. Gould is best known for his playing of the classical music repertoire although he also plays a six-string electric violin and has performed jazz at Ronnie Scott's. He has performed at the Royal Albert Hall, Barbican Centre and Royal Festival Hall in London, as well as Bridgewater Hall, Manchester Arena, Symphony Hall, Birmingham and National Indoor Arena.
Stanley Ritchie, an Australian violinist born in 1935, is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Violin at Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University. A noted specialist in historical performance, Ritchie is author of two relevant books, ‘Before the Chinrest - A Violinist’s Guide to the Mysteries of Pre-Chinrest Technique and Style’ (2012) and 'The Accompaniment in "Unaccompanied" Bach - Interpreting the Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin' (2016), both published by Indiana University Press.
Violin virtuoso Joshua Bell receives the Golden Plate Award from Awards Council member Dr. Benjamin S. Carson.
Golden Plate Awards Council member and virtuoso violinist Joshua Bell performs the "Meditation" by Massenet.
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