The Union Station Hall's Come Alive with the Sound of Music

Violin virtuoso Joshua Bell @Union Station

Often times in life you don't get a chance for a do-over. But sometimes you do. And Joshua Bell got such a chance yesterday.

Back in 2007, Grammy-award winning violinist Bell performed some of the world's greatest music as a busker at the busy L'Enfant Metro station. More than a thousand pedestrians hurried by Bell without notice. Very few stopped to listen and only a handful realized they were being treated to a free concert by a musical master.

Washington Post staffer Gene Weingarten wrote a column about the adventure and that story, entitled "Pearls Before Breakfast: Can One of the Nation's Great Musicians Cut Through the Fog of a D.C. Rush Hour?" won a pulitzer for Weingarten and greater notoriety for Bell, who already was one of the most acclaimed musicians in the world. (A link to the complete version of Weingarten's story appears at the end of this post).

Yesterday, 7 years later, Bell gave a repeat performance of sorts.  He appeared for a half-hour free performance at Union Station. But this time hundreds and hundreds of fans and classical music enthusiasts packed the Grand Hall at the station to hear Bell's playing.

Prior to his lunch-time, half-hour concert, Bell explained why he wanted a do-over to Washington Post reporter Jessica Contrera.

"I'm in dangerous territory of it becoming the main thing I'm know for," Bell said. "I really don't want that on my tombstone: Here he is underground again."

The crowd began arriving more than an hour before the scheduled 12:30 start. The best seats went to those who huddled near the temporary stage in front of the dozens of TV cameras on hand to capture the performance, which would also call attention to the National Youn

Arts Foundation and the release of Bell's latest CD.

Other fans sat on the circular stairs leading up to one of the station's restaurants. Perhaps the best seats were held by 3 construction workers who perched atop scaffolding being used for renovations to the station's ornate ceiling. For the rest, it meant filling in the hall, standing on tiptoes, and craning necks for the best view possible.  Cameras and cell phones were thrust into the air to capture the event.

At the very back of the crowd, far removed from the stage, 3 female workers with the ubiquitous government ID tags draped around their necks assessed their chances for the show.

"Can you see anything back here?" the latest of the 3 arrivals asked the other 2.

"Not really, but we are here and we can hear," one replied.

Weingarten introduced Bell, who then played Bach and Mendelsohn in the 30-minute performance. He was accompanied by 9 students from the National YoungArts Foundation. Those young musicians are also featured alongside the violin virtuoso in his HBO documentary special "Joshua Bell: A YoungArts MasterClass" which will air on Oct. 14.

So, after it was concluded, how did Bell feel about his do-over?

"Music - you need the give and take from the audience, the feeling of attention. It's not about me; it's about the music itself," Bell told PBS senior correspondent Jeffery Brown after the concert. "Today, I was a little surprised at how many people came. I was a little worried that when I agreed to do it that there might only be a handful of people and it might be embarrassing. This far exceeded my expectations I was so happy," he said.

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

Even more on Bell and his DC musical story

 Here is the link to Weingarten's orginal Pulitzer Prize winning story.

Should you do the do-over if there's a chance for a 2nd chance? (from NPR)

The Next Battle in DC Renaming: Harry Truman Union Station?

Each week in our Saturday Supplement, The Prices Do DC re-posts an entry of interest to both residents of the Washington area and visitors to DC that first appeared in another publication's website.

Two stipulations, right at the start: Senator Claire McCaskill, Democrat of Missouri, is far from being among the most objectionable members of the world’s greatest (way too) deliberative body. And bipartisanship, though overrated, should not be automatically regarded as a bad thing.

That said, McCaskill, with the support and co-sponsorship of the Republican Roy Blunt, her fellow Missouri senator, has come up with a regrettable idea. They have introduced a bill to saddle Union Station, Washington’s magnificent temple to the greatness of rail travel and food-court cuisine, with a new name. They want to call it the Harry S. Truman Union Station.

Their reasoning—McCaskill’s, anyway—is that there isn’t anything else labelled “Harry S. Truman” in Washington. (And please: no pedantic quibbling over whether it should be “Harry S Truman.”) That’s not strictly true. There’s the Truman balcony, which overlooks the South Lawn from the White House. But McCaskill and Blunt have a point. Surely President Truman, that great Missourian, deserves to have his name on something other than a home-improvement project.

To continue reading this post which 1st appeared in The New Yorker, click here.

Earth Day 2014 in DC's Union Station

Thousands of area residents, many of them school-age students, and travelers with time on their hands took in the annual Earth Day celebration at Union Station today.

The event, which featured interactive, eco-friendly experiences designed to raise awareness of environmental issues and encourage sustainability, was hosted by Earth Day Network and the National Air and Space Administration (NASA).

Here is a photographic sampling of some of what those who attended saw and did.

Just one of several lists of activities 

Young students learn about climate

Waiting to explore our Earth.

Jennifer Kennedy and Tony Springer explain atmosphere

A peep sacrifices itself for science 

THree layers of glove protects astronauts in outer space.

Washington DC as it looks from satellite photos. Now where is our apartment? 

The littlest ones made a special eco-friend

While NSA supplied budding young scientists with backpacks