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Joshua Bell was
born on December 9, 1967 in the city of Bloomington, Indiana.
Legend has it that as a young boy, he became fascinated with the concept of strings and the sounds they are capable of producing. By hooking elastic bands around the knobs on his dresser, and then opening the drawers at different intervals, he was able to stretch and pluck the elastic bands, thus experimenting with his first "stringed instrument". At the age of five, Mr. Bell's parents bought him his first violin, marking the beginning of their son's illustrious career. Under the tutelage of the world-famous violinist, Josef Gingold, who became his friend and mentor, Mr. Bell continued to perfect his art. At fourteen, he won the Seventeen Magazine/General Motors competition, and made his national debut with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra; met by critical acclaim, he soon after debuted at Carnegie Hall. After winning an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and having already begun recording his music, Mr. Bell studied at and in 1989 graduated from Indiana University with an Artist Diploma. He also has honorary standing at the Royal Academy of Music (in England), where he sometimes teaches as a visiting professor. Aside from performing with some of the world's greatest orchestras, and working with some of the most respected conductors and musicians in his field, Mr. Bell has also been featured in newspaper and magazine articles, live television appearances, and various other documentaries, broadcasts, and videos. When he is not recording music or on tour (an endeavor which takes up about 200 days a year), Mr. Bell resides in New York, where he enjoys sports, books, and computer-related activities. Mr. Bell's violin, the sweet-sounding instrument we have all come to know and love, is a 1732 Antonio Stradivari known as the Tom Taylor. |