Appreciation of arts

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 a thousand
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 a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a
few seconds and then hurried up 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 theatre in Boston and the seats average $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?

(Read the original article in the Washington Post web site. Link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ wp-dyn/content/ article/2007/ 04/04/AR20070404 01721.html