Joshua Bell is a world-renowned American violinist. He began to learn how to play the violin at the age of four and made his debut with an orchestra at 14, performing alongside the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Joshua Bell has performed as a soloist with various orchestras across the world, including the London Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, and New York Philharmonic. In addition to his experience with orchestras, Joshua Bell is also recognized for his personal recordings, which have earned multiple Grammy Awards.

On the Friday morning of January 12th, 2007, Joshua Bell put on a T-shirt and a baseball cap and disguised himself as a street musician in a subway station in Washington DC to find out what would happen. During the morning rush hour, Bell opened his $3.5 million Stradivarius case and played while thousands of people walked by for 43 minutes.

He played pieces by Bach, Schubert, Massenet, and Manuel Ponce—what some would consider the greatest musical compositions ever created.

Despite Bell's worldwide reputation, the experiment yielded surprising results. The majority of commuters, absorbed in their morning routines, hurried past without noticing or pausing to listen. Only a handful recognized him or took more than a moment to appreciate the music.