Violinist Joshua Bell to play Lied Jan. 23

Joshua Bell
Joshua Bell

Classical music superstar Joshua Bell will play the Lied Center for Performing Arts at 3 p.m., Jan. 23. The performance offers an opportunity to see and hear the most celebrated American violinist of the modern era.

Bell's performance will include Brahm's Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano in A Major, Op. 100, as well as Schubert's "Fantasy" and Grieg's Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano in G Major.

Bell will be joined by Sam Haywood, a critically acclaimed British pianist.

For more than two decades, Bell has enchanted audiences worldwide with his breathtaking virtuosity and tone of rare beauty. He came to national attention at the age of 14 in an orchestral debut with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Bell grew up on a farm in Bloomington, Ind. As a child, he indulged in many passions outside of music, becoming an avid computer game player and a competitive athlete. Bell received his first violin at age 4 after his parents, both psychologists, noticed him plucking tunes with rubber bands he had stretched around the handles of his dresser drawers. By 12 he was serious about the instrument, thanks in large part to the inspiration of renowned violinist and pedagogue Josef Gingold, who had become his beloved teacher and mentor.

In 1989, Bell received an artist diploma in violin performance from Indiana University. The recipient of the coveted Avery Fisher Prize, he has been named an "Indiana Living Legend" and received the Indiana Governor's Arts Award. In 2005 he was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame and in 2009 performed at Ford's Theatre before President Obama which was followed by an invitation from the President and Mrs. Obama to perform at the White House.

Bell performs on the 1713 Gibson ex Huberman Stradivarius violin and uses a late-18th century French bow by Francois Tourte. For more information, go to http://www.joshuabell.com.

Tickets start at $42 for adults and $21 for students (with a valid ID) and children. For more information, go to http://www.liedcenter.org or call (402) 472-4747.

- Shannon McClure, Lied Center for Performing Arts

More details at: http://www.liedcenter.org