A Violinist in the Metro

[Guest guest]

A man sat at the metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin.

It was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes.

 

During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of

people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

 

Three minutes went by and a middle-aged man noticed there was a musician

playing. He slowed his pace, stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to

meet his schedule.

 

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the

monehy in the till and without stopping continued to walk.

 

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him but the

man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

 

The one who paid the most attention was a 3-year-old boy. His mother tagged him

along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the motehr

pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This

action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without

exception, forced them to move on.

 

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a

while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He

collected $32.

 

When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one

applauded, nor was there any recognition.

 

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in

the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written; with a

violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

 

Two days before his playhing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theatre in

Boston and the average ticket was $100.

 

This is a real story.

 

Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organised by the

Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and

priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an

inappropriate hour.

 

Do we perceive beauty?

Do we stop to appreciate it?

Do we recognise the talent in an unexpected context?

 

One of the possible inferences from this experience could be:

 

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in

the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we

missing?

 

(Taken from Ideas Exchange, June 2009)