A Stradivarius at L'Enfant Plaza Station - World Renowned Violinist Goes Street

On Friday, January 12, 2007, a young "man dressed in jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt, and a Washington Nationals baseball cap" set up shop at the L'Enfant Plaza station in Washington, DC. With no fanfare, he pulled out his violin, tossed some money into his case (what street musicians call seed money), and began to play. He played for 43 minutes and hardly anyone paid attention. At the end of his free concert, the young man walked away with $32.

The Washington Post sponsored the free event. They wanted to see what commuters would do when a world-renowned musician played for them. What they found was quite startling. Virtually nothing happened.

The musician was 39-year-old world-famous violinist Joshua Bell. His instrument was a $3.5 million Stradivarius. For a violinist, playing a Stradivarius is like a car enthusiast driving a vintage Shelby Mustang. It's all that and a bag of chips. A few people paused on their way. One man, John David Mortenson, rushing to a meeting stopped to listen for the three minutes he had to spare. Mortenson knows classic rock, not classical music. He wouldn't know Bell if the man walked up to him and introduced himself in his usual garb of "black pants and untucked black dress shirt, shirttail dangling." But, for a few short minutes he stopped to listen and appreciate the music. He even stopped to drop some money into the case. That was a first for him. A little black boy the age of three wanted to listen, but his mother rushed him by. They were late. On the escalator, he craned his neck to watch the performance. A couple of women stopped to watch, one even speaking to him. Of over a thousand people, only two women, one white man, a little black boy, and less than a handful of others showed any interest. The little black boy's interest shows that classical music isn't white music or black music. It is music everyone, even a classic rocker and a three-year-old, can appreciate.

During any given performance Bell would have been annoyed by a cough or the sound of a cell phone. On this day he had a rude awakening. Virtually no one listened. There was a queue for lottery tickets. No one in line paid attention during the entire 43 minutes. After each piece, during a concert, there is applause, concert-goers often holding coughs so as not to intrude. Not on this day. Certainly it discomfited Bell who is accustomed to much adulation.

Well, the next time any of the 1,097 commuters on this day wish to see Joshua Bell perform they will have to fork over a pretty penny. An "okay" seat will cost $100.

On the Washington Post website, you can hear the entire 43 minute concert and a portion of the video.

Works cited:

The Week. May 4, 2007. The last word: A virtuoso ignored. Pgs 52-53.

Author's note: The article in The Week is an excerpt from the Washington Post article. Neither it nor my article does justice to the article published in the Post. Do yourself a favor and read it in its entirety.