Great Performers Series
Joshua Bell & Academy of St Martin in the Fields
March 1, 2026
Overview
Joshua Bell and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields return to Davies Symphony Hall for a program featuring Johannes Brahms’s Violin Concerto and Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 1, Spring.Concert Extras
Lobby Exhibit: Requiem Reflections. Head to Davies Symphony Hall’s First Tier lobby for an exhibit connecting Mozart’s Requiem with the universal questions it stirs. On display through March 4.
Program
Charles
Ives
(arr. Iain Farrington)
Variations on America
Variations on America
Johannes
Brahms
Violin Concerto
Robert
Schumann
Symphony No. 1, Spring
Sponsors
Presenting Sponsor of The Great Performers Series
Academy of St Martin in the Fields
Joshua Bell
Leader and Violin
With a career spanning almost four decades, Grammy Award–winning violinist Joshua Bell has performed with virtually every major orchestra in the world, and continues to maintain engagements as soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, conductor, and music director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
Mr. Bell’s highlights this season include an international tour of his newly-commissioned project, The Elements, featuring works by living composers. The work receives its premiere with the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Hong Kong Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, and Seattle Symphony. Last summer he released his new album on Sony Classical, Butterfly Lovers. He made his San Francisco Symphony debut in 1991 as a Shenson Young Artist.
Mr. Bell has been nominated for six Grammy Awards, was named Instrumentalist of the Year by Musical America, deemed a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, received the Avery Fisher Prize, and was named an Indiana Living Legend. He has performed for three American presidents and the justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. He also participated in Barack Obama’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities’ mission to Cuba on an Emmy-nominated PBS Live from Lincoln Center special, “Joshua Bell: Seasons of Cuba,” celebrating renewed cultural diplomacy between Cuba and the United States.
Academy of St Martin in the Fields
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Founded in 1958 by Sir Neville Marriner, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields has evolved into a musical powerhouse, an orchestra renowned across the world for its commitment to the musical freedom of its players and the sharing of joyful, inspiring performances. Today, with Music Director Joshua Bell, ASMF’s player-led approach empowers every member of the orchestra. This creates a direct line and electrifying connection between the orchestra and our audiences, resulting in ambitious and collaborative performances that transcend the more traditional conductor-led model.
ASMF presents its most ambitious season of the last decade in 2025–26, continuing to collaborate with the world’s great soloists and directors, including Joshua Bell, Jan Lisiecki, Steven Isserlis, Arthur and Lucas Jussen, Elena Urioste, and Khatia Buniatishvili. The orchestra also embarks on its most significant international season of the last decade, including ASMF’s return after 20 years to Carnegie Hall, and four separate tours across Europe.
Beyond the concert hall, ASMF’s commitment to a social purpose manifests in impactful projects that harness the power of music to empower. The Academy has a longstanding history of work which connects with people experiencing homelessness, and education projects that develop autonomy and creativity among emerging musicians worldwide. Building on its rich legacy, ASMF remains one of the world’s most-recorded orchestras, igniting a love for classical music in people around the world.
The Academy’s work in the United States is supported by Maria Cardamone and Paul Matthews together with the American Friends of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Exclusive management for the Academy of St Martin in the Fields: Opus 3 Artists.
ASMF presents its most ambitious season of the last decade in 2025–26, continuing to collaborate with the world’s great soloists and directors, including Joshua Bell, Jan Lisiecki, Steven Isserlis, Arthur and Lucas Jussen, Elena Urioste, and Khatia Buniatishvili. The orchestra also embarks on its most significant international season of the last decade, including ASMF’s return after 20 years to Carnegie Hall, and four separate tours across Europe.
Beyond the concert hall, ASMF’s commitment to a social purpose manifests in impactful projects that harness the power of music to empower. The Academy has a longstanding history of work which connects with people experiencing homelessness, and education projects that develop autonomy and creativity among emerging musicians worldwide. Building on its rich legacy, ASMF remains one of the world’s most-recorded orchestras, igniting a love for classical music in people around the world.
The Academy’s work in the United States is supported by Maria Cardamone and Paul Matthews together with the American Friends of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Exclusive management for the Academy of St Martin in the Fields: Opus 3 Artists.
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