College of Fine Arts Professor Hugh O’Donnell inspired this post. The good Professor reminded me of a Washington Post Magazine story about an incognito performance in a Metro station by concert violinist Joshua Bell (considered a virtuoso).
The performance, organized by the Washington Post, was an experiment about perception, taste, and our priorities. According to O’Donnell, the experiment questions whether we could perceive beauty in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour. Do we stop to appreciate the beauty? Do we recognize talent in people in an unexpected context? Take a look for yourself:
Was it beautiful? Would you recognize this talent? How much would you pay for it? Professor O’Donnell explained that the value of this story is that “if we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?”
