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It Could Have Been You: The Washington Post – Joshua Bell Experiment
The setting is the Washington, DC Metro Station. It is a cold morning in January of 2007. A man with a violin plays six pieces of Bach for about 45 minutes. During that time about 2,000 people walk through the station. Most of them are on their way to work.
Four minutes into the performance a woman throws the first dollar into his hat without stopping. Six minutes into the performance a young man stops to lean against the wall and listens to the violinist, then looks at his watch and walks away. Ten minutes into the performance a 3-year old stops to listen but his mother hurries him along.
By the end of the 45 minutes in which the musician played continuously, only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money and just continued on their way at their regular pace. In total the violinist collected $32.
After 1 hour the violinist completed his performance and there was silence. Not a single person noticed. Not one person applauded, recognized or acknowledged his performance.
This happens every day in Toronto and probably every major city in the world. However, what you should know is that the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. The music he played in his performance was one of the most intricate pieces ever written and he played it with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Just two days before this morning, Joshua Bell had performed to a sold out audience at a theatre in Boston where the ticket prices averaged $100.
Joshua Bell’s incognito performance at the DC metro station was part of a social experiment organized by the Washington Post. The experiment was about perception, taste and people’s priorities.
This makes me wonder. If 2,000 people could walk by such a jewel, a once in a life-time performance by such a master performer at no cost to them other than just stopping and listening, then what else are they missing? What are are you missing? As you rush from Union Station to get to your office job, how many times have you ignored the buskers just inside the TTC station? I wonder if they’re world-famous performers that are incognito.
Remember to stop and smell the roses, to hear the sounds, to see the beauty. You never know what tomorrow brings so take the time to appreciate the world for all its glory.
Baldo