Saturday, April 7, 2007

Joshua Bell as subway busker

Pearls Before Breakfast
Can one of the nation's great musicians cut through the fog of a D.C. rush hour? Let's find out.
By Gene Weingarten
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 8, 2007

"HE EMERGED FROM THE METRO AT THE L'ENFANT PLAZA STATION AND POSITIONED HIMSELF AGAINST A WALL BESIDE A TRASH BASKET. By most measures, he was nondescript: a youngish white man in jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt and a Washington Nationals baseball cap. From a small case, he removed a violin. Placing the open case at his feet, he shrewdly threw in a few dollars and pocket change as seed money, swiveled it to face pedestrian traffic, and began to play."

Yup. That was Indiana's own Joshua Bell. Playing for tips. Read the whole sordid tale here. (Giggle!) OK, OK, he was born in Bloomington, but that's close enough for this Indianapolis Observer!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

There is a great response to the Joshua Bell article on the blog of a NYC subway performer: www.SawLady.com/blog
She interprates the situation differently, basically saying to be noticed as a busker you need more than just to be a good or even a great musician.