Joshua Bell Will Return to The Soraya with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields Orchestra

Virtuoso violinist Joshua Bell brings the renowned Academy of St Martin in Fields Orchestra to The Soraya where the Beethoven 250th celebration is well underway this season. Bell and the distinguished chamber orchestra will perform Beethoven's iconic Symphony No. 5, as well as the great violin concerto by Italian musical genius Niccolò Paganini.

The performance takes place on Wednesday, March 4 at 8:00pm. Single tickets for Academy of St Martin in the Fields with Joshua Bell start at $49 and are now on sale at The Soraya's ticket office, (818) 677-3000 and at TheSoraya.org.

Since 2011, Bell has served as Music Director of the Academy of St Martin the Fields. He leads the orchestra while playing the violin, an impressive feat that creates an unequaled musical experience for audiences. An artist of precision and passion, Bell has performed with every major orchestra on six continents, also maintaining his calendar as a recitalist and chamber musician.

Few orchestra pieces are as well-known as Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, with the opening chords which some call "Fate's knock on the door." In 1808 when it premiered, the composer seems to have directly confronted his rapid loss of hearing, a battle he would lose physically but overcome in spirit and by the force of will.

"It's a true honor to welcome back to The Soraya the great Joshua Bell for his fifth appearance on our stage," said Thor Steingraber, The Soraya's Executive Director. "The 250th Beethoven Celebration is a global celebration, and for the occasion we have programmed some of the greatest artists who will interpret Beethoven's brilliance-Joshua Bell and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Pinchas Zukerman with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Itzhak Perlman, Jonathan Biss, Christian Tetzlaff with Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and new music director Jamie Martín, and Lahav Shani conducting the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra."

Program

Beethoven Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67

Paganini Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Major, Op. 6

The performance is generously sponsored by Kathleen P. Martin and The Colburn Foundation.

About Joshua Bell, Music Director & Violin

With a career spanning over thirty years as a soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, conductor and director, Joshua Bell is one of the most celebrated violinists of his era.

Named the Music Director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields in 2011, he is the only person to hold this post since Sir Neville Marriner formed the orchestra in 1958, and recently renewed his contract through 2023.

Bell's interests range from the repertoire's hallmarks to commissioned works, including Nicholas Maw's Violin Concerto, for which Bell received a Grammy® award. He has also premiered works of John Corigliano, Edgar Meyer, Jay Greenberg, and Behzad Ranjbaran.

Committed to expanding classical music's social and cultural impact, Bell has collaborated with peers including Chick Corea, Wynton Marsalis, Chris Botti, Anoushka Shankar, Frankie Moreno, Josh Groban, and Sting. In Spring 2019, Bell joined his longtime friends, cellist Steven Isserlis and pianist Jeremy Denk, for a ten-city American trio tour.

Bell maintains an avid interest in film music, commemorating the 20th anniversary of The Red Violin (1998) in 2018-19. The film's Academy-Award winning soundtrack features Bell as soloist; in 2018, Bell brought the film with live orchestra to various summer festivals and the New York Philharmonic. In addition to six Live From Lincoln Center specials, Bell is also featured on a PBS Great Performances episode, "Joshua Bell: West Side Story in Central Park."

Through music and technology, Bell further seeks to expand the boundaries of his instrument. He has partnered with Embertone on the Joshua Bell Virtual Violin, a sampler created for producers, engineers, and composers. Bell also collaborated with Sony on the Joshua Bell VR experience.

As an exclusive Sony Classical artist, Bell has recorded more than 40 albums garnering Grammy®, Mercury®, Gramophone and ECHO Klassik awards. Sony Classical's most recent release in June 2018, with Bell and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, features Bruch's Scottish Fantasy and G minor Violin Concerto. Bell's previous release, For the Love of Brahms in 2016, includes 19th-century repertoire with the Academy, Steven Isserlis, and Jeremy Denk. Bell's 2014 Bach album, featuring Bell conducting the Academy in Beethoven's Fourth and Seventh Symphonies, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard classical charts.

In 2007, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post story, on Bell performing incognito in a Washington, D.C. metro station, sparked a conversation regarding artistic reception and context. It inspired Kathy Stinson's 2013 children's book, The Man With The Violin, and a newly commissioned animated film. Bell debuted the 2017 Man With The Violin festival at the Kennedy Center, and, in March 2019, presents a Man With The Violin festival and family concert with the Seattle Symphony.

Bell advocates for music as an essential educational tool. He maintains active involvement with Education Through Music and Turnaround Arts, which provide instruments and arts education to children who may not otherwise experience classical music firsthand.

Born in Bloomington, Indiana, Bell began the violin at age four, and at age twelve, began studies with Josef Gingold. At age 14, Bell debuted with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra, and debuted at Carnegie Hall at age 17 with the St. Louis Symphony. Bell received the 2007 Avery Fisher Prize and has recently been named Musical America's 2010 "Instrumentalist of the Year" and an "Indiana Living Legend." He received the 2003 Indiana Governor's Arts Award and a 1991 Distinguished Alumni Service Award from his alma mater, the Jacobs School of Music.

Bell performs on the 1713 Huberman Stradivarius violin, with a François Tourte 18th-century bow. Find out more about Joshua Bell at www.joshuabell.com.

Photo Credit: Luis Luque

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