What is Joshua Bell?
[[File:Joshua Bell Indiana University cropped.jpg|thumb|Bell in 2008]] '''Joshua David Bell''' (born 9 December 1967) is an [[Americans|American]] [[violin]]ist. He is considered one of the greatest violinists of today. ==Childhood== Bell was born in [[Bloomington, Indiana|Bloomington]], [[Indiana]], [[United States]]. His father was a [[psychology|psychologist]] and [[therapy|therapist]]. He began violin lessons at the age of four after his mother found that Bell had taken [[rubber band]]s from around the house and stretched them across the handles of his dresser drawer to pluck out music he had heard her play on the piano. His parents got him a very small violin and started giving him lessons. He learned the violin very quickly, but also had time to enjoy things such as [[video game]]s and [[sport]]s. Bell's first violin teacher suggested that he should learn with [[Josef Gingold]]. Bell says that Gingold was a great teacher. At the age of fourteen, Bell appeared as a soloist with the [[Philadelphia Orchestra]] conducted by [[Riccardo Muti]]. He studied the violin at the [[Indiana University (Bloomington)|Indiana University]]'s [[Jacobs School of Music]], while managing to graduate from Bloomington High School North in 1984. ==Career== Joshua Bell first played in the [[Carnegie Hall]], [[New York (state)|New York]] in 1985 with the [[Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra]]. He has since performed with almost all of the world's major [[orchestra]]s and [[conducting|conductors]]. He has played all the well known [[concerto]]s as well as new works. In 1993, he gave the first performance of [[Nicholas Maw]]'s violin concerto which was dedicated to him. The recording of this work won Bell a [[Grammy]] award. He performed the solo part on [[John Corigliano]]'s Oscar-winning soundtrack for the [[movie]] ''[[The Red Violin]]'' and was also featured in ''[[Ladies in Lavender]]''. Bell also made an appearance in the movie ''[[Music of the Heart]]'', a story about the power of music, with other famous violinists