street music

This experiment is on youtube...

And interestingly, some did recognize him.

Henry

I do not fully agree with the conclusion in very first post. If he was a Brad Pitt then the result would have been definitely different ?!

Brad Pitt playing a violin? I don't think he could even play a scale.

Joshua Bell is a wonderful musician.

The subway (Metro) stop where he played is surrounded by US Federal Agencies, including Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Transportation, General Services Administration and tons more. At least 90% of the employees of these agencies are salaried, and so they would not have been docked in their pay for being a few minutes late.

I meant to say response varies from person to person. Even though Brad can not pay violin, but if he was just standing there , there would be huge mob.

Saurabh Pillai wrote: Even though Brad can not pay violin, but if he was just standing there , there would be huge mob.

That says something about our human culture. Brad Pitt can act, but the crowd would be primarily because he is good looking. So he picked the right parents. While Joshua Bell would attract a fair mob in several locations (say the Kennedy Center concert hall, Lincoln Center, etc.) and the guy is not ugly, he appeals to a more cultured taste.

Here is the original article, which won the author the Pulitzer Prize that year.