Joshua Bell

This is a True Story...

Musician playing violin in a Washington DC

Metro Station on a cold January morning

in 2007.

He played six Bach pieces for about 60 minutes.

During that time approximately 2,000 people went through

the station, most of them on their way to work.

After: 3 minutes

A middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing.

He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and

then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes

The violinist received his first dollar:

a woman threw the money in the till

and without stopping,

continued to walk.

6 minutes

A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him,

then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes

A three year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly,

as the kid stopped to look at the violinist.

Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk,

turning his head all the time.

This action was repeated by several other children.

Every parent, without exception, forced them to move on.

45 minutes

The musician played. Only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while.

About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace.

He collected $32.

1 hour

He finished playing and silence took over.

No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

The Washington Post, as part of a social experiment

about perception, taste and people's priorities,

arranged the entire scenario.

Playing incognito, no one knew the violinist was

Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world.

He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written,

with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.

Two days prior to this,

Joshua Bell sold this out at a theater in Boston where the tickets

averaged $100 per seat.

The questions rose:

In a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour,

do we perceive beauty;

do we stop to appreciate it;

do we recognize talent in such an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and recognize

one of the best musicians in the world,

and listen to one of the finest music ever written,

with one of the most beautiful instruments,

.

.

.

.

.

HOW MANY OTHER BEAUTIFUL THINGS ARE WE MISSING

IN AND AROUND US?????

Don’t get lost yourself and loose someone special in the tight paced life.