Master Dilettante

Gene Weingarten of the Washington Post recently published a great article on the importance of context and experience to the appreciation of art, chronicling an interesting experiment conducted in January. Famed virtuoso violinist Joshua Bell performed at a subway station during rush hour in D.C. to test whether passersby would recognize his brilliance and stop to appreciate it. Bell took on the role of street performer, dressing casually and displaying his open violin case with a few dollar bills in it at his feet. Over the course of 43 minutes, he performed several classical music masterpieces on his $3.5MM Stradivarius violin

In that 43 minutes, 1,097 commuters walked by, but only 5 (<0.5%) paused or stopped to listen for any period of time, including only exactly 1 astute person who actually recognized Bell. For 43 minutes of performance, Bell received a total of around $32 in tips.

The experiment reveals two insights into the nature of art appreciation:

1. Context matters. Bell filled music halls for performances at Boston’s Symphony Hall three days earlier and at Maryland’s Music Center at Strathmore two weeks later. Take away the accustomed venue, the price of a ticket, an accompanying orchestra and concert attire, and what remained was an ordinary street performer whom the vast preponderance of passersby will ignore.
2. Experience matters. Of the five individuals who paused to listen to Bell, 1 recognized him from a previous concert, 1 had studied violin seriously and knew Bell (but didn’t recognize him) and 1 worked at a bakery in the subway station where he was exposed to performers daily. The remaining 2 were an adult and a child to whom the music had innate appeal. Without experience or other ability, passersby could not recognize Bell’s skill and talent.

A long but worthwhile read. See the complete Post article for more detail, including videos of the entire performance.