I read this exhaustive article in Washington Post over the weekend. It was about how they created a social experiment where they put a violinist, Joshua Bell, to act as a metro street performer. Bell is considered one of the best if not the best in world in classical music. As he put on his 45 minute performance, only 7 people out of more than a thousand stopped! A ticket to one of his performances easily fetches $100. The article really messed with my mind and made me think about the music I listen to and the perception of what good music is. The riddle of this, will we ever reach a point of where a hip-hop or even rock pioneer could be ignored, some might even say disrespected, like this?
You should read the full article here.
Sphere: Related Content
There is a great response to the Joshua Bell article by a NYC subway musician in her blog: http://www.SawLady.com/blog
She interprets the situation differently from the Washington Post reporters… I thought you might find it interesting.
Michelle- That is an interesting point, but I don’t think even if he busks well that a thousand people passing by should then just ignore the music..
[…] already know we love our Washington post readings. Today they ran a profile of Suge Knight, it is filled with gems. First off Suge is making […]
[…] a completely different spectrum of public transport performances from the one we’ve mention on here before, but equally life changing. Chi’s […]