Joshua Bell

First emerging as an energetic child prodigy in the late 1980s, Joshua Bell soon established himself as one of the most gifted virtuosos of his generation, earning the nickname "the poet of the violin" thanks to his elegant style and daring, free-wheeling approach to music.

Born in Bloomington, Indiana, he first showed a love of music as a toddler when he would stretch elastic bands over his dresser drawer handles and start plucking away, trying to imitate his mother's piano playing. His parents bought him his first violin at the age of four and the naturally gifted learner flourished under the mentorship of master violinist Josef Gingold as he began appearing as a soloist with the world's great orchestras by the time he was 14. Three years later he made his debut performance at Carnegie Hall and the teenage starlet became a bona fide classical superstar with stunning renditions of works by Beethoven, Brahms and Tchaikovsky, releasing his first album of Bruch and Mendelssohn concertos through London Records in 1989.

Alongside mastering a classic repertoire of Debussy, Franck and Prokofiev, he also performed contemporary pieces by Aaron Kay Kernis, Edgar Meyer and Jay Greenberg and featured on the Academy Award-winning soundtrack to the movie 'The Red Violin' in 1998. He won his first Grammy Award in 2000 for his recording of Nicholas Maw's specially written concerto, and in 2001 purchased the legendary Gibson ex-Huberman Stradivarius violin for $4million, making his first recording with the 300-year-old instrument on 'The Romance of the Violin'. Other stand out albums include 'Lalo: Symphonie Espagnole' in 2005, 'Vivaldi: The Four Seasons' in 2008 and 'At Home With Friends' in 2009, which featured collaborations with an eclectic range of singers including Sting, Regina Spector and Kristin Chenoweth.

Continuing to lead a diverse, genre-hopping career, Bell became musical director of the Academy of St Martins-in-the-Fields chamber orchestra, appeared on 'Sesame Street' and accompanied actress Scarlett Johansson on the song 'Before My Time' for the documentary 'Chasing Ice'.