For more than two decades, violinist Joshua Bell has enchanted audiences worldwide with his breathtaking virtuosity and tone of rare beauty. Born in Bloomington, Indiana, He came to national attention at the age of 14 in a highly acclaimed orchestral debut with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra. A Carnegie Hall debut, the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, and a recording contract further confirmed his presence in the music world. Today he is equally at home as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestra leader.
Since his first LP recording at age 18, Bell has made critically acclaimed recordings of the concertos of Beethoven and Mendelssohn both featuring his own cadenzas, Sibelius and Goldmark, as well as the Grammy Award winning Nicholas Maw concerto. His Grammy-nominated recording Gershwin Fantasy premiered a new work for violin andorchestra based on themes from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. Its success led to a Grammy nominated all-Bernstein recording that included the premiere of the West Side Story Suite as well as new recording of the composer's Serenade. With the composer and double bass virtuoso Edgar Meyer, Bell appeared on the Grammy-nominated crossover recording Short Trip Home and a disc of concert works by Meyer and the 19th-century composer Giovanni Bottesini. Bell also collaborated with Wynton Marsalis on the Grammy-winning spoken word children's album, Listen to the Storyteller and Bela Fleck's Grammy Award winning Perpetual Motion. He has performed on the Grammy Awards telecast, performing music from Short Trip Home and West Side Story Suite.