This was sent to me today. I think it is worth passing along.
Tater
A Violinist in the Metro
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 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 musician playing. He slowed his pace and
stopped for a few seconds and then hurried on 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. 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 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 playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a
theater in Boston and the seats averaged $100.
This is a real story. 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?
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