* * * * *
                                        
                                  Street music
                                        
> Leonard Slatkin, music director of the National Symphony Orchestra, was
> asked the same question. What did he think would occur, hypothetically, if
> one of the world's great violinists had performed incognito before a
> traveling rush-hour audience of 1,000-odd people?
> 
> “Let's assume,” Slatkin said, “that he is not recognized and just taken for
> granted as a street musician … Still, I don't think that if he's really
> good, he's going to go unnoticed. He'd get a larger audience in Europe …
> but, okay, out of 1,000 people, my guess is there might be 35 or 40 who
> will recognize the quality for what it is. Maybe 75 to 100 will stop and
> spend some time listening.”
> 
> So, a crowd would gather?
> 
> “Oh, yes.”
> 
> And how much will he make?
> 
> “About $150.”
> 
> Thanks, Maestro. As it happens, this is not hypothetical. It really
> happened.
> 
> “How'd I do?”
> 
> We'll tell you in a minute.
> 
> “Well, who was the musician?”
> 
> Joshua Bell.
> 

Via Steven Talcott Smith [1], “Pearls before Breakfast [2]”

Joshua Bell [3]. Playing a $3.6M Stradivarius [4] no less.

But you'll have to read the article to find out the results.

[1] http://www.steventalcottsmith.com/2007/4/8/be-late-for-beauty
[2] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Bell
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stradivarius

Email Sean Conner at sean@conman.org

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