Ellen Carpenter on Joshua Bell

"The Grammy award-winning violinist Joshua Bell has performed for President Obama at the White House, thousands of rapt fans at Carnegie Hall and a TV audience of millions as a guest on the Tonight Show. On January 25th, he invited the audience into his house for an evening of music and merriment benefiting two charities close to his heart, Music Unites and Education Through Music. Both MU and ETM focus on providing music education to undeserved schools and, for years, Bell has worked with ETM to share his passion. … After an hour of mingling with friends — including the singer-songwriter Regina Spektor, who appears on Bell's latest album, 'At Home with Friends' — Bell took to the stage (aka, a raised section of his living room) to perform a brief, but rich, set for the eager crowd. … Before moving onto his next piece, Bell talked about his first experience working with students at a school in Harlem in 2004. … Most of the children he works with are underprivileged and come from broken homes. … He and [pianist Jeremy] Denk then launched into an arousing performance of Grieg's Sonata in C Minor" ("Joshua Bell 'At Home with Friends' for a Good Cause: Music Education," Huffington Post, 2/2/10).