Ap Tsara speaks…

21 February 2009

"Youth and substance abuse: who is responsible?"

Oh, now here’s a story that will mirror our supreme indifference to life.

On a cold January morning, a man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes.

During the rush hour, thousands of people hurried through the station to work.

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.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the child 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.

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.

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 and appreciate beauty? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

Conclusion: 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?

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