Joshua Bell (born December 9, 1967) is an American violinist.

Bell was born in Bloomington, Indiana, the son of two psychologists, and began taking violin lessons at the age of four when his mother discovered her son had taken rubber bands from around the house and stretched them across the handles of his dresser drawer and was plucking out music he had heard her play on the piano. His parents got him a scaled to size violin for their now five year old son and started him on lessons. A bright student, Bell took to the instrument but lived a normal Midwest Indiana life playing video games and excelling at sports. Bell studied as a boy first under Mimi Zweig, then switched to Josef Gingold after assurances from Bell's parents that they were not interested in pushing their son in the study of the violin but simply wanted him to have the best teacher for their son's abilities. Satisfied that the boy was living a normal life, Gingold took Bell on as his student and to this day, Bell speaks of Gingold fondly as a great teacher and mentor. At the age of fourteen, he appeared as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Muti. Bell studied the violin at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music He made his debut at Carnegie Hall in 1985 with the St Louis Symphony Orchestra. He has since played with many of the world's major orchestras and conductors.

As well as the standard concerto repertoire, Bell has performed new works—he is the dedicatee of Nicholas Maw's violin concerto, the recording of which won Bell a Grammy, and gave the world premiere of the work in 1993. He performed the solo part on John Corigliano's Oscar-winning soundtrack for the film The Red Violin and was also featured in Ladies in Lavender. Bell also made an appearance in the movie "Music of the Heart", a story about the power of music, with other notable violinists.

Bell's instrument is a 300 year old Stradivarius violin called the Gibson ex Hubermann which was made in 1713 during what is known as Antonio Stradivari's "Golden Era". This particular instrument has its own unique history as it was stolen twice; the last time the owner confessed to the theft on his deathbed. Bell had held and played the violin and its owner at the time jokingly told Bell the violin could be his for four million dollars. Shortly thereafter, by chance, Bell came across the violin again and discovered it was about to be sold to a German industrialist to become part of a collection. Bell sold the Stradivarius he was using at the time and through a series of loans, purchased the Gibson ex Hubermann for just under $3.5 million. His first recording made with the Gibson ex Hubermann was Romance of the Violin (under Sony Classical) in 2003 and went on to sell more than 100,000 copies which, for a classical album, is quite considerable.

Bell currently serves as an artistic partner for the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (starting in the 2004–2005 season) and as visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He also serves on the artists selection committee for the Kennedy Center Honors.

Bell's father is the late Dr. Alan P Bell, PhD, Professor Emeritus Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana and was a former Kinsey Researcher.

Bell has never been married, has no children and resides in Manhattan.

External links

• Bell's recording label website
• Interview on The Diane Rehm Show radio program

1967 birthsLiving people | Academics of the Royal Academy of Music | American violinists | Classical violinists | American classical musicians | Indiana University alumni | Jewish American musicians | Jewish classical musicians | People from Bloomington | Indiana musicians

Joshua Bell | ジョシュア・ベル | ბელი, ჯოშუა | Joshua Bell