Joshua Bell | |
|---|---|
 Bell in 2010 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | (1967-12-09)December 9, 1967 (age 58) |
| Genres | Classical |
| Occupations | Violinist, conductor |
| Years active | since the 1980s |
| Website | joshuabell |
Joshua David Bell (born December 9, 1967) is an Americanviolinist and conductor. He is the music director of theAcademy of St Martin in the Fields.
Bell was born inBloomington, Indiana, one of four children of Shirley Bell, a therapist, andAlan P. Bell,[1] a psychologist and professor atIndiana University (IU), and formerKinsey researcher.[2][3] His father was of Scottish descent and his mother wasJewish (her father was born inMandatory Palestine and her mother was fromMinsk).[4]
Bell began playing the violin at age four after his mother discovered that he had taken rubber bands from around the house and stretched them across the handles of his nine dresser drawers to pluck out music he had heard her play on the piano. His parents got a scaled-to-size violin for him when he was five and started giving him lessons. Bell took to the instrument but had an otherwise normal Indiana childhood, playing video games and excelling at sports, especially tennis and bowling. He placed in a national tennis tournament at age ten.[5]
Bell's first violin teacher was Donna Bricht, widow ofIndiana University music faculty memberWalter Bricht.[6] His second was Mimi Zweig, and his third the violinist and pedagogueJosef Gingold, who accepted Bell as a student after his parents assured him that they were not interested in pushing their son to be a star but simply wanted him to have the best teacher for his abilities. By age 12, Bell was serious about the instrument, thanks in large part to Gingold's inspiration.[citation needed]
At age 14, Bell appeared as a soloist with thePhiladelphia Orchestra underRiccardo Muti. He studied violin at the Indiana UniversityJacobs School of Music and graduated fromBloomington High School North in 1984.[7] In 1989 Bell received an Artist Diploma in violin performance from Indiana University. IU also honored him with a Distinguished Alumni Service Award two years after his graduation. He has been named an "Indiana Living Legend"[8] and received the Indiana Governor's Arts Award.[9]
Bell made hisCarnegie Hall debut in 1985, at age 17, with theSt. Louis Symphony. In 1990, at age 22, he went on theAmerican Russian Young Artists Orchestra's first tour of Russia.[10][11] He has since performed with many of the world's major orchestras and conductors. As well as the standard concerto repertoire, he has performed new works.Nicholas Maw's violin concerto is dedicated to Bell, who premiered it in 1993 and won aGrammy Award for his recording. He performed the solo part onJohn Corigliano's Oscar-winning soundtrack to the filmThe Red Violin and was featured inLadies in Lavender. He also appeared in the movieMusic of the Heart, with other violinists.[citation needed]
Bell's instrument is theGibson ex Huberman, aStradivarius made in 1713 during what is known asStradivari's "Golden Era". The violin was stolen twice from its previous owner,Bronisław Huberman; the final time, the thief confessed to the act on his deathbed.[12] Bell had played the violin; its owner at the time, violinistNorbert Brainin, jokingly told him that it could be his for $4 million. On August 3, 2001, Bell was in London to perform atThe Proms; before the concert he was approached byJ & A Beare. He learned that the violin was in London and about to be sold to a German industrialist to become part of a collection. Bell played the violin at the Proms that same evening.[13] He later sold his previous violin, theTom Taylor Stradivarius,[14] for a little more than $2 million and bought the Gibson ex Huberman for a little under the $4 million asking price. The 2013 documentaryThe Return of the Violin tells the story of the instrument's theft, return, and subsequent acquisition by Bell.[15] Bell's first recording with the Gibson ex Huberman wasRomance of the Violin forSony Classical Records in 2003.
Bell served as artistic partner for theSaint Paul Chamber Orchestra from 2004 until 2007, and as a visiting professor at theRoyal Academy of Music in London. He also serves on the artists' selection committee for theKennedy Center Honors and is an adjunct associate professor at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology.[16]
Bell won theAvery Fisher Prize on April 10, 2007, atLincoln Center in New York City. The prize is given once every few years to classical instrumentalists for outstanding achievement.[17] On May 3, 2007, Indiana University'sJacobs School of Music announced that Bell had joined the faculty as a senior lecturer.[18]
In 2008, Bell received the Golden Plate Award of theAmerican Academy of Achievement.[19][20][21]
Bell collaborated withHans Zimmer by providing violin solos for thesoundtrack of the 2009 filmAngels & Demons, based onDan Brown's 2000novel of the same name.[citation needed]
In May 2011, theAcademy of St Martin in the Fields (ASMF) named Bell its music director.[22][23] He has recorded commercially with the ASMF for the Sony Classical label.[24] In July 2017, the ASMF announced a three-year extension of his contract, through 2020.[25] Bell and the orchestra won the2017 Helpmann Award for Best Individual Classical Music Performance.[26] In April 2024, the ASMF announced an additional extension of Bell's contract as its music director through August 2028.[27]
In 2013, Bell accompaniedScarlett Johansson in the song "Before My Time". Written byJ. Ralph for the documentaryChasing Ice, it received a nomination for theAcademy Award for Best Original Song.[28]
Bell played himself in three episodes ofMozart in the Jungle in 2014, 2015, and 2016.[29] In 2016, he had a cameo in the penultimate musical episode ofRoyal Pains.[30] He also appeared as himself in episode 8 ("Quacktice Makes Perfect") of the 2017Netflix original seriesJulie's Greenroom.[31]
In October 2024, theNew Jersey Symphony announced the appointment of Bell as its new principal guest conductor, effective with the 2025–2026 season, with an initial contract of four seasons.[32]
Bell is represented byCharlotte Lee at Primo Artists.[33]
On October 14, 2025, Bell was appointed as an honoraryCommander of the Order of the British Empire byCharles III.[34]
In an experiment initiated byThe Washington Post columnistGene Weingarten, Bell donned a baseball cap and played as an incognitobusker at the Metro subway stationL'Enfant Plaza in Washington, D.C., on January 12, 2007. The experiment was videotaped on hidden camera; of the 1,097 people who passed by, seven stopped to listen to him and one recognized him. For his nearly 45-minute performance, Bell collected $32.17 from 27 passersby (excluding $20 from the one who recognized him).[12] Three days earlier, he earned considerably more playing the same repertoire at a concert. Weingarten won the 2008Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing for his article on the experiment.[35][36]The Washington Post posted the video on YouTube[37] and a feature-length documentary,Find Your Way: A Busker's Documentary, chronicled Bell's experience.[38] A somewhat inaccurate retelling of the story went viral.[39]
Bell and his former partner, Lisa Matricardi, have three sons: Josef (born 2007),[40][41] and twins Benjamin and Samuel (born 2010).[42][43] On October 5, 2019, Bell married opera singerLarisa Martinez at their home inMount Kisco, New York.[44][45] They met when she was readingThe Fabric of the Cosmos byBrian Greene, who is a friend of Bell's. They were married by columnist David Brooks.[46] They also live in theGramercy Park neighborhood ofManhattan.[47]
| Year | Album | Billboard Classical | Billboard 200 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Bruch &Mendelssohn Violin Concertos, London Records | — | — |
| 1989 | Fauré /Debussy /Franck Violin Sonatas withJean-Yves Thibaudet, Decca Records | — | — |
| 1989 | Saint-Saëns:Violin concerto N°3,Lalo,Symphonie Espagnole | ||
| 1990 | Presenting Joshua Bell, Polygram Records | — | — |
| 1991 | Chausson Concerto,Ravel Piano Trio, London Records | — | — |
| 1992 | Saint-Saëns:Violin Concerto No. 3 /Chausson:Poeme, London Records | — | — |
| 1995 | Prokofiev: Violin Concertos & Sonatas, London Records | — | — |
| 1995 | Brahms /Schumann Violin Concertos, London Records | — | — |
| 1996 | TheKreisler Album, London Records | — | — |
| 1997 | Barber /Walton/Bloch Violin Concertos, Decca Records | — | — |
| 1997 | Shostakovich Piano Trio No. 2, London Records | — | — |
| 1999 | MawViolin Concertos, Sony Classical | — | — |
| 1999 | Gershwin Fantasy, Sony Classical | — | — |
| 2000 | Sibelius &Goldmark: Violin Concertos, Sony Classical | — | — |
| 2000 | Short Trip Home, withEdgar Meyer,Sam Bush,Mike Marshall, Sony Classical | 7 | — |
| 2001 | BernsteinWest Side Story Suite, Sony Classical | 3 | — |
| 2002 | Beethoven &Mendelssohn: Violin Concertos, Sony Classical | 18 | — |
| 2004 | Romance of the Violin, Sony Classical | 1 | 176 |
| 2005 | Tchaikovsky:Violin Concerto, Op. 35; Melodie; Danse Russe fromSwan Lake (Act III), Sony Classical | 2 | — |
| 2005 | OST Duft von Lavendel, Sony Classical | ||
| 2005 | Romance of the Violin, Sony Classical | ||
| 2006 | Voice of the Violin, Sony Classical | 1 | — |
| 2007 | CoriglianoThe Red Violin, Sony | 1 | — |
| 2007 | The Essential Joshua Bell, Sony BMG Masterworks | 19 | — |
| 2008 | Vivaldi:The Four Seasons,Sony BMG Masterworks | 1 | 134 |
| 2009 | Bruch, Mendelssohn, Mozart Violin Concertos (reissues), Decca | 9 | — |
| 2009 | The Best of Joshua Bell, Sony Masterworks | 12 | — |
| 2009 | At Home with Friends, Sony Masterworks withChris Botti,Kristin Chenoweth,Regina Spektor,Anoushka Shankar, Frankie Moreno, andSting[48] | 1 | 118 |
| 2012 | French Impressions, Sony Classical | 1 | 139 |
| 2013 | Beethoven: Symphonies Nos.4 &7,Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Sony Masterworks | 1 | — |
| 2013 | Musical Gifts from Joshua Bell and Friends, Sony Classical | ||
| 2014 | Bach, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Sony Classical | — | — |
| 2016 | For the Love of Brahms,Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Classical | — | — |
| 2017 | Joshua Bell – The Classical Collection, Sony Classical | ||
| 2017 | Brigitte Klassik zum Genießen: Joshua Bell, Sony Classical | ||
| 2018 | Bruch: Scottish Fantasy, Op. 46 / Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 26, Sony Classical | ||
| 2020 | At Home With Music[49] |
Violin virtuoso Joshua Bell receives the Golden Plate Award from Awards Council member Dr. Benjamin S. Carson.
Golden Plate Awards Council member and virtuoso violinist Joshua Bell performs the "Meditation" by Massenet.
| Cultural offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Music Director, Academy of St Martin in the Fields 2011–present | Succeeded by incumbent |
