It is only the third time in the centuries-old history of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia that the Roman institution has bestowed the title of “Artist in Residence” on an artist. The first to be honored was the Georgian violinist Lisa Batiashvili in the 2017-2018 season, while in 2022-2023 the honor went to the Italian pianist Beatrice Rana. In the 2024-2025 season, the new artist in residence will be the violinist Joshua Bell. The American musician will take part in three concerts, two scheduled in the chamber season and one in the symphonic season, and will participate in a European tour with Daniel Harding and the Santa Cecilia Orchestra.
In the first chamber concert scheduled for January 22, 2025, Bell, accompanied by the Israeli pianist Shai Wosner, will perform works by Schubert, Fauré, and the famous “Devil’s Trill” Sonata by Tartini. On March 17, again for the chamber season but this time together with the Soloists of the Santa Cecilia Orchestra and Principal Clarinet Alessandro Carbonare, he will perform Brahms’ Clarinet Quintet op. 115 and Mendelssohn’s Octet op. 20. Finally, on April 17, 18, and 19, with the Santa Cecilia Orchestra conducted by Daniel Harding, he will perform Antonin Dvořák’s Violin Concerto op. 53. The same piece will also be performed during the tour taking place from May 5 to 10 with stops in Barcelona, Hamburg, Dortmund, Katowice, and Frankfurt.
With a career spanning almost four decades, GRAMMY® Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell is one of the most celebrated artists of his era. Having performed with virtually every major orchestra in the world, Bell continues to maintain engagements as soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, conductor, and Music Director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
In summer 2020, PBS presented Joshua Bell: At Home With Music, a nationwide broadcast produced entirely in lockdown, by Tony and Emmy Award-winning director Dori Berinstein. The program included classical repertoire as well as new arrangements of beloved works. The special featured guest artists Larisa Martínez, Jeremy Denk, Peter Dugan, and Kamal Khan. In August 2020, Sony Classical released the companion album to the special, Joshua Bell: At Home With Music.
In 2011, Bell was named Music Director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, succeeding Sir Neville Marriner, who formed the orchestra in 1959. Bell’s history with the Academy dates to 1986, when he first recorded the Bruch and Mendelssohn concertos with Marriner and the orchestra. Bell has since led the orchestra on several albums including Beethoven’s Fourth and Seventh Symphonies, an all-Bach album, For the Love of Brahms, and, most recently, Bruch: Scottish Fantasy, which was nominated for a 2019 GRAMMY® Award.
Bell has performed for three American presidents and the justices of the Supreme Court. Bell also participated in President Barack Obama’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities’ mission to Cuba, performing on an Emmy-nominated PBS Live from Lincoln Center special; Joshua Bell: Seasons of Cuba, celebrating renewed diplomacy between Cuba and the United States.
Born in Bloomington, Indiana, Bell began playing the violin at age 4, and at age 12, began studies with his mentor, Josef Gingold. At age 14, Bell debuted with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra, and made his Carnegie Hall debut at age 17 with the St. Louis Symphony. At age 18, Bell signed with his first label, London Decca, and received the Avery Fisher Career Grant. In the following decades, Bell has been nominated for six GRAMMY® awards, named “Instrumentalist of the Year” by Musical America, a “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum, and received the Avery Fisher Prize. He also received the 2003 Indiana Governor’s Arts Award and in 2000 was named an “Indiana Living Legend.”