Screw smelling roses, just listen to the music

This story is a bit dated (April 2007), but it begs the question, if our lives were too busy in 07, how much more of our time is accounted for today at the dawn of 2011?

Here's the rundown: We've all seen, whether in person or at least in video or photograph, the quintessential subway musician. He/she stands in the corner, back to the wall, dressed in common threads and plays in front of an opened instrument case or up-turned baseball cap. More often than not, passersby live up to their name and catch only a glimpse of what's going on in that florescent-lit corner. Usually they don't even register that they've heard anything at all. The notes or lyrics so easily blend in with the ample ambient noises of the every-day that to differentiate seems a daunting task.

Such was the case on January 12, 2007, when a young man made his way into a busy Washington D.C. subway station. He stood against a wall and took out his violin. At about 10 till 8 during the morning rush, he began to play.

For the next 43 minutes he played six classical pieces and over 1,000 people were exposed to the sounds. The young musician made a little over 32 dollars and during the time he played, only a handful of people stopped to listen.

Little did they know the musician was Joshua Bell, one of the worlds greatest violinists, and he was playing some of the most intricate music ever written on a violin that cost over 3 million dollars.

The focus of this social experiment, conducted by the Washington Post, centered around the question, "In a banal setting at an inconvenient time, would beauty transcend?" Unfortunately, as it seemed then, the everyday hustle to continue the rat-race push of life took precedence. And, though I claim to be someone who values music over almost every other pleasurable outlet, I'm left to wonder, if, in those circumstances, I would have made myself stop and enjoy the small snippet of beauty in that corner of the world. Would you?

For the complete Washington Post article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myq8upzJDJc

Also, to bring this more up-to-date, for all of you in North Alabama... or within a 100 mile radius of Birmingham, AL, Mr. Bell will be performing at the Alys Robinson Stephens Performing Arts Center on January 20.

For more info on the event, or to purchase tickets just give this little link a click!

http://www.ilike.com/artist/Joshua+Bell/event_details?event_id=10610240