Strings and stringsAmes TribuneAmes, Iowa, January 18, 2007By: Christopher Weishaar/The TribuneAmes, Iowa -- January 18, 2007 --
A look at the video game records Web site Twin Galaxies will show Joshua Bell with a score of 4,432,143,360 on computer pinball game "Crystal Caliburn."Although Bell holds the world record for the game, video games are just something he does to whittle away the time. "I like playing online (now), I have a friend in New York I play with," Bell said. "It's a nice way to get your mind off everything."To see a larger version of the news story above, please click here. When not taking his mind off everything, Bell spends his time as a world-renowned violinist, a role Bell said he "fell into sideways.""Before I knew it, I was getting paid for playing," Bell said during a conference call interview. "I was a very shy kid when I was little, but I always felt comfortable when I got up on stage and played. Before I knew it, I gained a manager when I was 16 and was getting paid fordoing what I really enjoyed doing."Bell, 39, said he did not choose the violin, having received it from his parents at the age of four when they noticed his love for music when he would string rubber bands on a dresser draw and play.Despite not choosing the violin, Bell said he took to it immediately."I really feel like a violinist and nothing else," he said. "The violin sound is what feels right to me."Bell went on to his professional debut at the age of 14 with the Philadelphia Orchestra and has been playing, collaborating, recording CDs and soundtracks and touring ever since.Bell brings his latest tour to Ames and will give a performance with pianist Jeremy Denk at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 26, at Stephens Auditorium.Joining Bell on his tour is his 1713 Stradivarius Gibson Ex Huberman, a violin famous for being stolen twice."This one I just stumbled upon in London," Bell said of the $4 million instrument. "It's certainly a fascinating story. It is pretty awesome to pick up an instrument that has that history. What I fell in love with was the sound of it and the way it felt."Bell's program will also include a piece written for him by Edgar Meyer. The piece was originally intended for last year's tour but was put off until this year."Meyer's music is so original, there's nothing like it anywhere," Bell said. "Everything he writes is so honest and from the heart and not gimmicky; it really works."Bell's program will be rounded out by Schumann and Beethoven pieces, and with all three combined should provide a range for listeners."The Schumann is incredibly romantic, passionate; the Beethoven ... is extremely poetic and beautiful and profound," Bell said. "It's a balanced meal."Bell will also play some selections from his latest CD, "Voice of the Violin," to end the show."I think it's fun to keep a little open and maybe think of those as being encores as a well," Bell said.ProgramJoshua Bell, violinJeremy Denk, piano* Schumann (1810-1856), Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano in A minor, Op. 105: Mit leidenschaftlichem Ausdruck, Allegretto, Lebhaft.* Beethoven (1770-1827), Sonata No. 10 for Violin and Piano in G major, Op. 96: Allegro moderato, Andante espressivo, Scherzo: Allegro, Poco allegretto.* Intermission.* Meyer (1960- ), Concert Piece for Violin and Piano: Movement I, Movement II, Movement III, Movement IV.* Selections from "Voice of the Violin."The e-mail certainly caught Mark Summer's attention: "Would you be interested in performing on a cello made of ice? This is not a joke."So, Summer called the phone number given and talked to the man on the other end."I called the guy, and he was quite serious," Summer said.That's how Summer ended up performing one of his more memorable performances, by playing a cello sculpted out of ice 11,000 feet above sea level on Taos Mountain."The cello was difficult to play, the sound glassy," Summer remembered.But going up the mountain to play was something Summer feels he ought to have been willing to do as a cellist who is trying to do new things.Doing new things is something Summer has been doing for 21 years as a founding member of the Turtle Island String Quartet, a group that has forayed into a wide variety of music."Turtle Island's job description is very, very much more broad than what you do in a classical ensemble," Summer said. "When growing up, we were so influenced by rock 'n' roll ... we had this realization that these instruments that we put so much time and energy into learning how to play could do some of the same things a guitar could do."The Quartet will bring its Miles Davis-themed jazz program to Ames for two shows at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 20, at Fisher Theater."It's some of the tunes Miles has composed, or that are associated with him," Summer said. "Kind of an arrangement of material to give a picture of his career, if you can do that."The group formed 21 years ago when Summer met violinist David Balakrishnan, who asked him to join a jazz string quartet he was forming. Violinist Evan Price and violist Mads Tolling round out the group.Summer said while he and Balakrishnan came from classical backgrounds, Turtle Island has performed a wide range of music including classical, country, rock, New Age, swing, Latin and Middle Eastern music.Summer said the group has also "come full circle" and changed its approach to music, from trying to be more a band and coming back to being more like a string quartet."In some ways we went further to be more like a band (in the beginning), kind of wankin' out a bit," Summer said. "I think we're much more focused and concentrated now; along the lines of a classical string quartet, but playing music you'd never expect."The group has done multiple collaborations and played shows such as opening for Ray Charles, playing in the Hollywood Bowl and going to the Moab Music Festival later this year.Despite some of these big opportunities, Summer said some of the best shows are still the simple ones when the crowd gets into the music."Whatever will get the energy going; if you play in a room that's full, there's no better feeling in the world," Summer said. "It could be anywhere; could be Ames."Christopher Weishaar can be reached at 232-2161, Ext. 353,or [email protected].A look at the video game records Web siteTwin Galaxies will show Joshua Bell with a score of 4,432,143.360 on computer pinball game "Crystal Caliburn."Although Bell holds the world record for the game, video games are just something he does to whittle away the time. "I like playing online (now), I have a friend in New York I play with," Bell said. "It's a nice way to get your mind off everything." When not taking his mind off everything, Bell spends his time as a world-renowned violinist a role Bell said he "fell into sideways.""Before I knew it, I was getting paid for playing," Bell said during a conference-call interview '•I was a very shy kid when I was little, but I always felt comfortable when I got up on stage and played. Before I knew it, I gained a manager when I was 16 and was getting paid for doing "what I really enjoyed doing."Bell, 39, said he did not choose the violin, having received it from his parents at the age of four when they noticed his love for music when