Three Quick Lessons From The Violin Wunderkind Who Became A Master

Joshua Bell was once a boy wonder of the violin. Now, at 46, he leads nine young musicians in Masterclass. HBO's 30-minute documentary series pairs young artists with world-renowned mentors such as Placido Domingo, Frank Gehry and Patti LuPone, and gives both the teacher and the students opportunities to learn from each other. During an interview with NPR's Robert Siegel, Bell offers three solid pieces of advice to musicians new and old:




    "It's important to understand] your role in playing chamber music."

    "The key is to figure out what you're contributing. If it's rhythm, then you don't want to drown everyone out. You want people to understand the rhythmic basis."

    "To play with great energy and great character within [the soft dynamic] piano is something that one needs to learn how to do."

Classical 'Rock Star' Joshua Bell Takes On Conducting

 

Joshua Bell, the violin prodigy who grew into what some call a classical-music rock star, has taken the helm of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. Bell is the orchestra's first music director since Sir Neville Marriner, who created the group.

On his first tour with the group as both music director and conductor, Bell plays the violin while conducting the orchestra simultaneously, gesturing with his bow. And he leads from the concert master's chair, rather than the podium, which seems unusual to some audiences.

But the ASMF orchestra "really knows how to read those sorts of cues," he tells NPR's Neal Conan. In fact, Bell says, Marriner originally led the orchestra from the violin, too.

"So this orchestra, their roots come from being directed from the chair," he says. "Not with a stick."

Academy of st martin in the fields announces joshua bell as music director

London -- Joshua Bell was today announced as Music Director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, the first person to hold the title since Sir Neville Marriner who founded the Orchestra in 1958. With three weeks already in the diary for the 2011-12 season including an extensive US tour, Joshua Bell will double his time with the Orchestra over the course of his initial three year contract, as well as taking responsibility for the artistic direction of the Orchestra.

The recipient of the Avery Fisher Prize and named 2010 Instrumentalist of the Year by Musical America, Joshua Bell has recorded more than 36 CDs and garnered numerous awards including the Mercury, Grammy, Gramophone and Echo Klassik Awards. Joshua came to international prominence at the age of 14 when he made his orchestral debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall under the baton of Riccardo Muti. His breathtaking virtuosity and tone of rare beauty has continued to enchant audiences worldwide for more than two decades. He records exclusively for Sony Classical.

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Joshua Bell playing Ave Maria.

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Classical: Music's Newly Cool

As Tracy Smith Reports, Everything Old Is New Again


By Ellen Crean

(CBS) If your New Year's Eve plans include listening to an orchestra (like the Boston Pops, the Atlanta Symphony, or any number of other groups around the U.S. which are offering concerts), you might be surprised by the number of teenagers listening right along with you. The Early Show's Tracy Smith has more in this week's "Study Hall" report. Thanks to younger, hipper artists, classical music is slowly finding a younger, hipper audience, as teens are discovering that Beethoven and Bach can actually rock.

Take, for instance, Joshua Bell, a musician who has won the hearts of teens all over the world – by playing the violin. While no one's rushing the stage at his concerts, 11,000 fans log on to the Joshua Bell fan site each month to chat about him, including 16-year-old Sarah Bollenbach, who says, "I was surprised by how many teenagers there were. They had a topic, 'How old are you?' And a lot of them were 15, 16, 17. You know? And I was like, 'Wow. OK!' I thought it was cool." Bell dispelled the stuffy stereotype of the old classical musician more than 15 years ago, when he released his debut solo album, complete with a music video. He recalls, "My first record cover when I was 19, I had jeans on, which was almost never done. I got a lot of flack about it from the critics. And it took me a while to win them over." He easily won over audiences, too. His latest work, "Romance of the Violin," was the no. 1-selling classical CD in 2004. And now, record labels eager to capitalize on the craze are signing "classical crossovers," young musicians with an edge, like violinist Vanessa-Mae, pianist Maxim, and the all-girl quartet Bond.

Even "American Idol" curmudgeon Simon Cowell has gotten into the classical game, forming Il Divo, the boy band of the classical crossover world. Classical fan Sarah and her friends even started their own group, Volante. It's more Bach than Britney, and they like it that way. They're currently playing the elementary school circuit, but who knows? If they can strike a chord with even younger kids, they may be fighting it out with Joshua Bell on the charts someday. As Bell himself explains, classical music is cool. He adds, "You don't have to change the music. You don't have to make it hipper. It's the things around it that we need to take opportunities to reach younger people in the way that other forms of music do." And this phenomenon isn't limited to the United States. Great Britain's classic FM TV plays classical music videos 24 hours a day, and they say that nearly a quarter of the 9.1 million viewers who have tuned in are under age 20.


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Violinist, Joshua Bell Permforms Beethoven

For more than two decades, Joshua Bell has enchanted audiences worldwide with his breathtaking virtuosity and tone of rare beauty. He came to national attention at the age of 14 in a highly acclaimed orchestral debut with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Named by Musical America as the 2010 Instrumentalist of the Year, highlights of Bell’s 2010-2011 season include fall performances with The New York Philharmonic, The Philadelphia San Francisco, Houston and St. Louis symphony orchestras.

http://www.joshuabell.com