Joshua Bell has enchanted audiences worldwide with his breathtaking virtuosity and tone of rare beauty, earning him the title "classical music superstar." An Avery Fisher Prize recipient and Musical America's 2010 Instrumentalist of the Year, Bell is the Academy of St Martin in the Fields' newly named Music Director. Bell came to national attention at age 14 in his debut with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Today he is equally at home as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestra leader and composer who performs his own cadenzas to several of the major concerto repertoire. This season include dates with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Montreal, Dallas, Colorado, Atlanta, San Francisco and National Symphony orchestras. An exclusive Sony Classical artist, "French Impressions," his latest album of French sonatas with Jeremy Denk was released in January, 2012. Since his first LP recording at 18, Bell has recorded more than 36 CDs garnering Mercury, Grammy, Gramophone and Echo Klassik Awards. Joshua has performed on many film scores including "The Red Violin" which won an Oscar and recently recorded "The Flowers of War." He was named by Billboard as the 2004 Classical Artist of the Year and recently he received the Paul Newman Award for services to children and the arts.