Joshua Bell is in town tonight with the Cleveland Orchestra to play at Sarasota's Van Wezel Hall. The 45-year-old is about a year into his role as the Music Director of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. They're putting out a new recording of Beethoven's 4th and 7th Symphonies.
Bell says his very first recording was made with the ASMF when he was 18.
He says he'll also be watching the Oscars this season to see if a song he played on for the documentary "Chasing Ice" will win in the "Best Original Song" category.
http://youtu.be/XLpEYxf10gM
Bell performs on "Before My Time," a song written by J. Ralph and sung by actress Scarlett Johansson. Bell says he and Johansson didn't record in the studio together.
Bell played on the score for the movie "The Red Violin," for which composer John Corigliano won the Oscar for Best Original Score. He beat out such cinematic music giants as John Williams.
Bell will be back in town February 22nd to play chamber music with pianist Sam Haywood at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater.
