The Washington Post “subway experiment” and Joshua Bell
June 15th, 2007 at 09:12am Rebecca Borden
Apparently, the Washington Post article I profiled in April (Would you stop and listen? ) is still getting a lot of downstream play. Staff at Polysemy captured two interviews with Joshua Bell and his recent experiment as a street musician in a busy Washington, DC subway entrance. World-class musicians aren’t supposed to be street performers - or should they? Who was impacted the most?
PODCAST: The Joshua Bell Experiment, part I [Running time: 21:52]
Questions explored: What exactly is this an experiment in? Is the audience response a sign of widespread cultural decline? Is Joshua Bell no better than the average rock band just starting out? What is a “venue”, anyway?
PODCAST: The Joshua Bell Experiment, part II [Running time: 15:17]
Questions explored: Why didn’t more people in the station slow down and listen? Do we have sensory overload, and no mental space for music like Bell’s? Why did every child in the subway want to stop to listen?
