Joshua Bell, Busker
The Washington Post has a on a recent experiment in which virtuoso violinist Joshua Bell, disguised in a baseball cap and posing as a street musician, played for an hour in a D.C. metro station. Would people recognize the quality of his artistry? Would they even notice him at all? Most importantly, how much money would they toss into his violin case?
Leonard Slatkin, music director of the National Symphony Orchestra, predicted a take of $150. His estimate was generous. After 43 minutes of playing, Bell made a haul of $32.17, and only that much because one woman had recognized him and tossed in a twenty-dollar bill. (Since she was the only passerby who actually recognized Bell, the Post team didn’t have to resort to trickier measures to keep Bell’s identity under wraps.)
When I first read the premise of the experiment, my first thought was “iPods.” Indeed, the article does mention some passersby with the ubiquitous little white plugs in their ears. Of course they ignored Bell, but so too did many people without any good excuse–except that they might have been late for work.
I wonder how different the reaction would have been if the same experiment had been conducted in the summer, in one of D.C.’s more touristy areas. Surely more vacationers would have stopped to listen.
I first encountered street musicians as a fifteen-year-old on my first visit to London. I fell in love with them. I kept a list of the pieces (from Vivaldi to the Beatles to their own compositions) that I heard them play. I still remember the unique sound of an acoustic guitar echoing through the tunnels of the London Underground. I had to wire my parents for more money, partly because I kept dropping pounds and pence into instrument cases.
But, again, I wasn’t on my way to work. I was there to study, but when I was in the city, I was there for leisure. And I was fifteen and apt to swoon at any music I found appealing. If I actually lived and worked in London (or D.C. or any other city with street musicians), would I ever stop and listen?
3 comments April 9th, 2007