On February 12 at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Joshua Bell will perform the world premiere of Anne Dudley’s The Man with the Violin: Suite for Violin and Orchestra with the National Symphony Orchestra. The piece—based on the story of Bell’s 2007 performance outside a Washington, D.C. Metro stop, where he went unrecognized by more than 1,000 passersby—was co-commissioned by the NSO and Canada’s National Arts Centre. Michael Stern will conduct the premiere, with radio/TV journalist Michele Norris serving as narrator. The performance will be accompanied by animated illustrations from Kathy Stinson’s 2013 children’s book The Man with the Violin, also inspired by Bell’s 2007 performance. The family concert is part of Bell’s weeklong residency at the Kennedy Center, which includes conducting the NSO in Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, performing in a food-and-music event with the Gourmet Symphony, and performing with Yo-Yo Ma at Bunker Hill Elementary School.
Posted February 10, 2017
