What are we missing?
 

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A man sat at a 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 1,100 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 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, and 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 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.

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 most talented musicians in the world. He had just played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, on a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized 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 recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions 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?

Bravo

That's really nice. Thanks for posting. You can bet your arse that I'd stop and listen for as long as he played.

Most people can't stop and listen because they have to get to work to pay income taxes to support all the losers who don't (almost 50% of the nation). Personally I would be about 2.5 hrs into my commute by then and running late. If it were Jennifer Anniston doing a strip tease on a $3.5M gold plated pole, most couldn't take the time to stop...much less give them money. Every 50 feet someone hits you up for money...so you just walk fast.

We need to stop,
Collaborate and listen
;)

I was waiting for the bit where a mugger came and stole the money!

very cool.

i have heard some players in the NYC subway system and on the streets that blew my mind.

This has been posted here before. Very interesting. I'm honestly not sure what I would do. I guess it would depend upon when and where this was occurring. In this instance it happened at a rail station. People didn't stop, but then would you stop if you were driving by and he was playing in an intersection? If he was playing in a mall or even a street corner or public park with lots of foot traffic, I bet he'd have ended up with a much larger audience. Under certain circumstances, I can see myself looking and listening as I walked by cursing the fact that I didn't have time to stop. Under other circumstances, I can imagine hanging out until the end.

MTA in NYC leases prime spots in some of the major subways...

Some of the musicians that get these spots are really tight.

String Quartets in Grand Central... Reggae in Penn.

They make quite a bit more than $32/day

And how many passersby would know what a $3.5 million Violin looks like?

GMAFB

Ice is back with a brand new edition....

Something grabs a hold of me tightly, flows like a harpoon daily and nightly

I was channel-surfing one day, years ago. I tend to gravitate toward the public and arts and science channels. There was an orchestra, with a conductor. Next to the conductor stood an asian girl, I'd say between 9 and 12 years old. I stopped surfing for a moment.

She raised the violin to her shoulder and pressed the bow against it. Within moments of her starting to play, tears were rolling down my cheeks.

32$ in 45 minutes... that's $42.66 an hour. I think that is probably far more than your average street musician gets in tips per hour on a normal day.

I see people with talent playing music in various parts of LA all the time. I appreciate the art as I pass, but I rarely have time to stop, regardless of how amazing they sound. Sad but that is how life is.

First start with a premise. Next, set up a way to prove it. A fairly normal set up.

Look at these low life clots. Walking by a concert violinist playing his favorite music.
They have no appreciation of the arts.......Making it to work? Pasha, they're clots.

Mybe he should have tried a park, or outside of a museum, where he would have found more ''losers'', and less Fints.

I find it odd that so many here have jobs where they can be late...and would stop and listen to every interesting person along the way to find out if they were a great musician or just another one of the many that play on the street that really are not too good. Generally speaking, if a musician is good enough to lose your job over and risk not being able To feed or care for your family...they are not playing in the subway for tips. The two seconds that I would hear him when I passed probably would not have alerted me to his skill any more than any of the others that play instruments or sing there. I would rather pay the money and see him in concert than lose my job to hear a tune or two in a noisy subway station. People who commute 5 hours a day and work 9 or 10 generally dont stand around in subway stations hoping for a free concert. They have their connections time down to the minute. Miss your train...and you rent a car to get home... Costing more than seeing a real concert. Maybe he would have done better to play some place where people are not responsible and wouldn't hesitate to come to work late over a little personal gratification...some place where guys like to make every discussion a personal attack...a place where guys like Dan live.

Not many people like or know anything about classical music, Bach, or the violin. Of the 1,100 passerby, maybe 1% would have gone to his symphony performance. Add the fact that people in a subway station are rushing to get to work, and the result of this experiment is unsurprising.

if a tree falls in the woods.........

I guess I would have to ask...how many here have paid to see this fellow play?

Working in NYC , you pass a bunch of guys like this everyday, to the point where it just becomes background noise. Most people are commuting and just want to get to work or home. Majority that will stop and listen are the tourists. Very rarely have I had the time to stop and listen. But yeah every once in a while I might see/hear someone that catches my ear. One of the most talented guys ive seen was a guy that had a bunch of plastic drywall buckets that he was using as drums.