Second fiddle at the metro

The Washington Post recently conducted an experiment in a Metro station. A man sat playing the violin on a cold January morning. He played intricate pieces by Bach. Though it was rush hour, when thousands of people go by, the violinist was more or less...

The Washington Post recently conducted an experiment in a Metro station. A man sat playing the violin on a cold January morning. He played intricate pieces by Bach.

Though it was rush hour, when thousands of people go by, the violinist was more or less ignored. In the 45 minutes that he played, only six people stopped to listen for a short while. When he finished playing, no one noticed and no one applauded.

In all he collected 32 dollars from passers-by. The violinist was none other than the world renowned Joshus Bell, and he played with a violin worth $3.5 million.

Two days before playing in the Subway, he performed a sold out concert in Boston with tickets selling at approx $100. Do we stop to listen, do we recognise talent?

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