Joshua Bell once again FTW
Joshua Bell is a nonstop source of feel good news, at least in DC, but I have to imagine wherever he travels. I previously posted about his stint playing in the DC metro a few years ago. There have been a ton of other awesome news stories in between that I haven’t commented on, but I can’t let another one go by. The latest is his playing for some disappointed fans who showed up at a concert that was cancelled due to the recent snow storm here in DC.
He was retrieving his coat when he noticed a guy with a violin case over his shoulder. It was Bell, personally apologizing to the 35-40 people left in the lobby. "I'm really sorry," he said, "I wanted to play for you guys, but they won't let me." Bell said he was deeply touched that that so many people had braved the blizzard to hear him. As first reported by DCist, that's when an older woman piped up: "Can you play something for us here?" Bell laughed, but she was dead serious. "You played in the Metro, so you can play here, right?"
Bell took out his violin -- "Here's a little piece I sometimes do" -- and started in on his variations on "Yankee Doodle Dandy."
Time and time again the stories I read about Joshua Bell are that he’s far from the diva he could be given his fame. Why could this interaction even happen? Because he was out in the lobby personally apologizing that the concert couldn’t happen that night (the venue had power issues caused by the storm and it’s the venue’s rules - and likely DC law - that said with the power out, he couldn’t hold the concert). Now how many top performers do you know that would take time to do the same?
Think I know what I’ll be listening to tonight while reading - my Joshua Bell playlist of course!
He was retrieving his coat when he noticed a guy with a violin case over his shoulder. It was Bell, personally apologizing to the 35-40 people left in the lobby. "I'm really sorry," he said, "I wanted to play for you guys, but they won't let me." Bell said he was deeply touched that that so many people had braved the blizzard to hear him. As first reported by DCist, that's when an older woman piped up: "Can you play something for us here?" Bell laughed, but she was dead serious. "You played in the Metro, so you can play here, right?"
Bell took out his violin -- "Here's a little piece I sometimes do" -- and started in on his variations on "Yankee Doodle Dandy."
Time and time again the stories I read about Joshua Bell are that he’s far from the diva he could be given his fame. Why could this interaction even happen? Because he was out in the lobby personally apologizing that the concert couldn’t happen that night (the venue had power issues caused by the storm and it’s the venue’s rules - and likely DC law - that said with the power out, he couldn’t hold the concert). Now how many top performers do you know that would take time to do the same?
Think I know what I’ll be listening to tonight while reading - my Joshua Bell playlist of course!