Joshua Bell
Good conductors know when to let an orchestra lead itself. Ninety percent of what a conductor does comes in the rehearsal - the vision, the structure, the architecture.Collection: Architecture
We live in a very chaotic world that sometimes we - it just seems like a mess. One of the reasons why we listen to music, and to great classical music in particular, is that everything is in an order and in a place and has a beauty that you see in nature, that you see and that people look for when they look for God.Collection: Music
The real architecture happens within the works themselves, and that was done by the composer. That's where the real skill is. In putting together a program, you're more a curator, but that's important as well. And then the interpreting of it is where our big job is.Collection: Architecture
For some reason I can't explain, artist and musicians tend to look younger than our age. Being in music, you need this youthful sense of discovery and wonder for what you're doing and keep your imagination open. That's a youthful way of looking at life and I think that reflects in how you age.Collection: Imagination
When you play a violin piece, you are a storyteller, and you're telling a story.
The violin sings.
I want to do everything. That's my problem. Life is short, and I hate the idea of turning down anything. You never know what interesting experience might happen.
Art and music is part of what it means to be a human being. And if you're neglecting that, you're basically ignoring a huge side of the brain and a huge side of what it means to be human.
So much of performing is a mind game.
In 1987, I had no idea who Steven Isserlis was. We met at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina. It was originally just an Italian summer festival, but for the past 14 years, there's also been a spring festival in America.
I approach everything as chamber music. Even with Beethoven symphonies, I lead from the violin and basically encourage the orchestra to think of it as a giant string quartet.
As far as I'm concerned, I want to do everything because life is short. So, when I did 'The Red Violin' film, I got to go to the Oscars, and I got to meet Samuel Jackson, and I got to do stuff that one wouldn't normally do in my world.
At a music hall, I'll get upset if someone coughs or if someone's cellphone goes off.
When you play for ticket-holders, you are already validated. I have no sense that I need to be accepted. I'm already accepted.
The man on the street, he knows who Beethoven is, he knows who Mozart is.
In art and music, particularly in the 20th century, there was a big period there where for something to be called profound you had to not be able to understand it.
We live in the least ugly time in history.
I write arrangements. I'm sort of a wannabe composer.
I grew up in a musical family, but nobody was a professional musician.
Over the years, I've collected a lot of musical friends.
I was lucky enough to have parents who started me on music very early, but most kids don't get that kind of exposure.
I like working with kids because I enjoy seeing the looks on their faces and, it's kind of selfish, I want a future audience.
There's nothing more frustrating than seeing a conductor say, 'Play softer,' as they're waving their hands in huge gestures.
I mean, the great secret is that an orchestra can actually play without a conductor at all. Of course, a great conductor will have a concept and will help them play together and unify them.
You're a constant student, as a musician.
You only live once, so I try to say yes to everything.
I love the outdoor festival feeling.
I'm in a position where, theoretically, I could play the same ten concertos and make a very good living bouncing around playing Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky and Barber, but I really think artists should keep pushing limits and trying new things.
No one tells you what to do if you completely flop at the beginning of a performance.
Although I hardly ever turn on the TV set unless it's football season, I do watch a lot of TV on my iPad - perfect for long airplane journeys.
I use Facebook quite a lot to keep up with my friends, although I had to delete 'Words With Friends' from my phone because it was wasting too much of my time.
A conductor can do wild things which can feel forced, but if you're directing from within the orchestra, you can't do that, things have to feel natural.
I want to do everything. That's my problem.
Conducting is a strange thing to teach.
What drew me to the violin was mastering the instrument technically, which I'm continuing to do.
I never had any real expectations about what sort of success I would have or all the publicity.
I hope I will always have the chance to play the violin.
The best way to refine an interpretation is by getting out and performing.
You don't have to have lots of love affairs to know what love is.
I don't want to portray myself as a daredevil. I'm not at all.
I like trying things, I am kind of adventurous and I like thrill seeking.
I like blackjack. I like the psychology of poker.
I'm addicted to the adrenaline of performing, and I think when you're used to having that high, you look for it in other things.
Beethoven's symphonies are not 'relaxing.' They are the most exciting things that have ever been created by a human being.
I'm having a blast being the music director at the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. It certainly is challenging for me, but I love challenges.
I think, as an artist, it's very important to continue to be challenged and feel challenged all the time.
I think it's really important to always kind of stretch your boundaries and your limits and get out of your comfort zone. And for me, that's very important.
Beethoven's fourth and seventh symphonies have a certain amount in common. Well, of course they're both written by Beethoven, but besides that, I would say their overall effect and idea is to provide the listener with an incredible sense of joy.
Anyone who knows classical music and loves classical music has heard the Beethoven Seventh hundreds of times probably in their life.
It's interesting about classical music that the more you hear something, the more you get to know a piece, the better and better it gets, period, which is just an interesting thing on it.