In Chicago. In 1930. Gene Weingarten’s story, which chronicled what happened when “internationally acclaimed virtuoso” Joshua Bell busked for 43 minutes at the L’Enfant Plaza metro station in Washington D.C., unknowingly covered ground already trod in the Windy City.
Like Bell, Jacques Gordon performed on a Stradivarius, played Massenet’s “Meditation” from “Thais” and Schubert’s “Ave Maria,” and made very little money for his virtuosity. The headline of the Chicago Evening Post story: “Famous Fiddler in Disguise Gets $5.61 in Curb Concerts.”
Related on World Hum:
* Busking Story Earns Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing
* ‘Once’ and the Art of Busking
