Violinist Joshua Bell performs and conducts the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center March 18.
When acclaimed violinist Joshua Bell and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields take the stage at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center March 18, Bell will not only perform but conduct, standing amongst the orchestra as it interprets Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony (“Pastoral”) and other pieces.
“I’m not just waving my arms and telling them how to play,” Bell said in an interview with NJ Advance Media. “The fact that I’m playing with them somehow gives a certain credibility, I guess, and a feeling we’re all doing this together, and it actually creates an experience that’s more visceral.”
Bell, who recently released a 14 CD “Classical Collection” on Sony Classical, began this new chapter in his career with the London-based Academy’s music director in 2011. He is the second person to hold that position after the late Sir Neville Marriner, who founded the orchestra in 1958.
“Before doing this sort of thing, I was a violin soloist,” he said. “I’d come to an orchestra and play a Tchaikovsky concerto, and then the second half I’d get to go get a beer or go to dinner early or, more often than not, I would listen to the conductor conduct a Beethoven symphony. I got a lot of education that way over the years.”
Since then, Bell has conducted eight of Beethoven’s nine symphonies, except “the big ninth. Someday. Maybe,” he said, adding that the sixth is probably his favorite.
The NJPAC program also includes Overture for Violin and Orchestra, which Edgar Meyer, a double bassist from the bluegrass world, composed with the Academy and Bell in mind.
Bell said he enjoys commissioning new works by living composers, like Meyer and John Corigliano, who wrote the Oscar winning soundtrack for “The Red Violin,” which Bell recorded.
“I’m very picky with modern music because I’m in the business of playing the music of the incredible geniuses of Mozart and Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky and Beethoven,” Bell said. “Our standards are held very high because we’re spoiled for great music so we look for new music that gives you the same sense of awe.”
Like all classical musicians, Bell is looking to expand his audience, seeking younger listeners. To that end, he does things “a little outside of the mainstream classical world,” like playing with Josh Groban and Sting, and performing in TV cameos on “Sesame Street” and “Mozart in the Jungle.”
“We’re living in an age when young people are eclecitc in their musical tastes,” he said.
He’s also involved in music tech projects: He partnered with Sony to create the “Joshua Bell VR Experience,” which allows a PlayStation user with a virtual reality headset to feel like they’re looking and listening to Bell performing Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No. 1 just for them.
Bell said he’s excited to see what virtual reality can do for music.
“I’m looking forward to the day you can use the technology to see the Super Bowl or a concert and feel like you’re watching it live,” he said.
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields with Joshua Bell
March 18, 3 p.m.
New Jersey Performing Arts Center
1 Center St., Newark
Tickets: $ 24-109, available online at www.njpac.org.
Natalie Pompilio is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia. She can be reached at nataliepompilio@yahoo.com. Find her on Twitter @nataliepompilio. Find NJ.com/Entertainment on Facebook.