Violinist and conductor, Joshua Bell, was born in Bloomington, Indiana. His mother, Shirley, was a therapist. His father, Alan P. Bell, was a psychologist, Professor Emeritus of Indiana University, in Bloomington.
His father is of Scottish descent, and his mother is Jewish. Bell told The Jewish Journal, “I identify myself as being Jewish”. Bell began taking violin lessons at the age of 4 after his mother discovered that her son had taken rubber bands from around the house and stretched them across the handles of his dresser drawer to pluck out music he had heard her play on the piano.
His parents got a scaled-to-size violin for their then 5-year-old son and started giving him lessons. A bright student, Bell took to the instrument but lived an otherwise normal midwest Indiana life playing video games and excelling at sports, namely tennis and bowling, even placing in a national tennis tournament at the age of 10.
Bell studied as a boy first under Donna Bricht, widow of Indiana University music faculty member Walter Bricht. His second teacher was Mimi Zweig, and then he switched to the violinist and pedagogue Josef Gingold after Bell’s parents assured Gingold that they were not interested in pushing their son in the study of the violin but simply wanted him to have the best teacher for his abilities. Satisfied that the boy was living a normal life, Gingold took Bell on as his student. By age 12, Bell was serious about the instrument, thanks in large part to Gingold’s inspiration.
At the age of 14, Joshua Bell came to national attention in debut with as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Muti. He studied the violin at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and graduated from Bloomington High School North in 1984, In 1989, Bell received an Artist Diploma in Violin Performance from Indiana University. His alma mater also honored him with a Distinguished Alumni Service Award only two years after his graduation. In 1989, Bell received an Artist Diploma in Violin Performance from Indiana University.
And now, here is Joshua Bell to play the Violin Concerto by Jean Sibelius:
