Joshua Bell Returns to the Washington D.C. Metro

Written by Laurie Niles
Published: September 25, 2014 at 6:41 PM [UTC]

It's been nearly eight years since Joshua Bell made $32 busking at a Washington D.C. Metro station and made history with the story about it in the Washington Post, which won reporter Gene Weingarten a Pulitzer Prize.

For a while there, it looked like Josh wasn't chomping at the bit to return to the subway station again, but at 12:30 p.m. next Tuesday he'll be back at Union Station, Washington D.C.'s Main Hall for a free performance sponsored by the Washington Post. Josh will perform a mini-concert with works by Mendelssohn and Bach with nine YoungArts alumni: violinists Mariella Haubs, Kevin Hu, Keir GoGwilt and Clare Semes; violists Bradley Parrimore and Devon Naftzger; cellists Brannon Cho and Anna Litvinenko; and bassist Zachary Ostroff.

Joshua Bell rehearses with YoungArts alumni musicians - Photo by by Karen Goodman

The group were all part of an HBO documentary called Joshua Bell: YoungArts MasterClass in which the young musicians traveled and performed alongside Bell for nine days, including rehearsals at Josh's Manhattan home; performing at London’s Limelight rock club; and watching his recording session of the Bach Violin Concertos with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. (The documentary will air October 14th (7:30PM ET/PT); and the Bach recording, called Joshua Bell: BACH, comes out Sept. 30.)

"The YoungArts alumni I am bringing to Washington offer a perfect example of what can happen when you invest in music education,” Bell said in a press release. "My dream is for music to play a part in every child’s life in this country and the best place to start is keeping music in the schools."

Here is a sample from Josh's new CD, enjoy!