Frank S.ent a Doozey

 
On a cold January morning in 2007, a man at a metro station in Washington DC started to play the violin.  During that time of day (it was rush hour), thousands of people go through the station - most of them on their way to work.  He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. 

 

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and 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 money in the till and, without stopping, continued to walk by).

 

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 hurried him along, but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally, the mother 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 too.

 

In the 45 minutes the man played, 1,097 travelers passed by.  A couple of dozen gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace.  Far less (only 7) stopped and listened for a while.  When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded; there was no recognition.

 

The man was world-renowned violinist Joshua Bell.  He played some of the most intricate pieces ever written on a violin worth 3.5 million dollars. Three days before his subway performance, Joshua Bell sold out Boston's Symphony Hall where the fairly good seats went for $100 each.  But, on this day, he collected just over $32 for his virtuosity.

 

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post (they won a Pulitzer for it) done as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and the priorities of people. The questions were - in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate time - Do we perceive beauty?  Do we stop to appreciate it?  Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

 

One of the possible conclusions from this experiment could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing some of the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?