Joshua Bell
Violin

Grammy®-Award winning violinist Joshua Bell kicks off the new season as Billboard Magazine’s “2004 Classical Artist of the Year” and as a recent inductee into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame, along with the legendary Frank Sinatra. On the recording front, the 2005-06 season begins with the release of his new Sony Classical live recording of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with Michael Tilson Thomas conducting the Berlin Philharmonic. Joshua is also featured on the soundtrack to DREAMER-Inspired by a True Story.

For over two decades, Joshua has been captivating audiences worldwide coming to national attention at age 14 with his highly acclaimed orchestral debut with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra. A Carnegie Hall debut, the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant and a recording contract further confirmed his unique presence in the music world. Now in his 30s, Bell has performed with the world’s leading symphony orchestras and conductors and recorded 30 albums. His curiosity and multifaceted musical interests have taken him in exciting directions, forging a unique career that has earned him the rare title of classical music superstar. As Gramophone surmised, “Bell is dazzling.”

Bell received his first violin at age 4 after his parents noticed him plucking tunes with rubber bands he had stretched around the handles of his dresser drawers. By age 12 he was serious about the instrument, thanks in large part to the inspiration of renowned violinist and pedagogue Josef Gingold, his beloved teacher and mentor.

Joshua Bell’s 2005-2006 performance season in North America includes concerts with Pacific Symphony, the New York Philharmonic and the Boston, Chicago and San Francisco Symphonies. International highlights will include a tour of China with Sir Roger Norrington and the Rundfunksinfonieorchestra Stuttgart, a tour of Israel with Herbert Blomstedt and the Israel Philharmonic, a European recital tour with pianist Zoltán Kocsis, and spring performances at London’s Wigmore Hall.

At age 18, Joshua signed his first recording contract with London/Decca, recording classical violin repertoire. Searching to expand his musical horizons, he joined Sony Classical –a MASTERWORKS label in 1996, resulting in a diverse collection of albums. Joshua was responsible for all of the solo violin music for John Corigliano’s soundtrack for The Red Violin, which captured the Oscar® for Best Original Score. Joshua received a Grammy® Award and a Mercury Music Prize for the Nicolas Maw Violin Concerto. The Sibelius & Goldmark violin concertos received the Echo Klassik Award for Best Concerto Recording. Gershwin Fantasy, Short Trip Home and West Side Story Suite received Grammy nominations for Best Classical Crossover Album. Joshua has also recorded the Mendelssohn Beethoven violin concertos and the soundtrack for the films Ladies in Lavender and Iris.

The Grammy®-Award and a Mercury Music Prize were awarded to Bell for the recording of the Nicolas Maw Violin Concerto, which was written expressly for him and featured Sir Roger Norrington conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Bell also received Grammy nominations for Gershwin Fantasy, featuring John Williams as conductor and pianist, as well as a for his bluegrass inspired recording of Short Trip Home with bassist and composer Edgar Meyer and legendary bluegrass musicians Sam Bush and Mike Marshall. He also collaborated with Wynton Marsalis on his spoken word children’s album, Listen to the Storyteller, and Bèla Fleck’s Perpetual Motion, both of which won Grammys.

Bell’s most mainstream effort yielded the ultimate accolade during the “72nd Academy Awards.® “Following his involvement with the film The Red Violin, where he was responsible for all solo violin music composed by John Corigliano, the album captured the Oscar® for Best Original Score. Corigliano proclaimed in his televised acceptance speech, “Joshua plays like a god.”

Millions of people have enjoyed Bell’s television performances over the years ranging from his early teen appearances on “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson,” to the PBS programs “Great Performances – Joshua Bell: West Side Story Suite from Central Park,” “Joshua Bell at the Penthouse—Live From Lincoln Center,” and “Sesame Street,” as well as A&E’s “Biography” and “Late Night With Conan O’Brien.”

He was one of the first classical artists to have a music video air on VH1. He has been profiled in publications ranging from Newsweek to People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People issue, Gramophone and The New York Times, which stated, “No one stands in Mr. Bell’s shadow.”

Joshua earned an Artist Diploma in Violin Performance from Indiana University in 1989 and two years later received their Distinguished Alumni Service Award. He has been named an “Indiana Living Legend” and received the Indiana Governor’s Arts Awards. He currently serves on the Artist Committee of the Kennedy Center Honors.

Joshua plays the 1713 Gibson ex Huberman Stradivarius.

For more information, please visit www.joshuabell.com.