Violinist Joshua Bell performs with the Orchestra of St. Luke's

Violinist Joshua Bell will be featured in a performance of Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D with the Orchestra of St. Luke's, conducted by Roberto Abbado, Saturday, April 1, in Bailey Hall. The concert, which begins at 8 p.m., is sponsored by the Cornell Concert Series. Also on the program are Hindemith's "Mathis der Maler" and Wagner's "Sigfried Idyll."

Tickets for the concert range from $26 to $40 for the general public and $16 to $24 for students and are on sale at the ticket office, 124 White Hall, 255-5144. The office is open for telephone and walk-up sales Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.; VISA, Discover and MasterCard are accepted. Tickets also can be ordered via the Cornell Concert Series web site at http://www.arts.cornell.edu/ccs.

Born in Bloomington, Ind., Bell received his first violin at age 5 and was seriously committed to the instrument by age 12, when he met renowned violinist and pedagogue Josef Gingold, who became his teacher and mentor. As winner of the 1981 Seventeen Magazine/General Motors competition, Bell came to national attention at age 14. That year he made his highly acclaimed orchestral debut with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra, and soon after he debuted at Carnegie Hall, won an Avery Fisher Career Grant and made his first recordings, creating a sensation that rapidly spread throughout the music world.

Today, at 32, Bell has earned a reputation not only as a dynamic performer but as a dedicated and thoughtful musician who has successfully bridged the gap from child prodigy to inspired and mature artist. A classical musician with a distinctively 21st century career, Bell builds on his classical training and veneration of the mainstream repertoire to access jazz, folk, bluegrass and new music.

Bell is the subject of a 1995 documentary film presented on the BBC's "Omnibus" program; was included in the program on Mozart from A&E's "Biography" series; is one of the first classical musicians to be the focus of a music video; and he has been featured on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" and in People magazine. Bell also served as artistic adviser, body double and the performing artist responsible for all on-screen violin sound for the film "The Red Violin."

The scope of Bell's activities offstage sometimes overshadows the fact that he is one of the busiest touring artists of our time. In addition to concerto performances with conductors James Levine, Roger Norrington, Seiji Ozawa, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Leonard Slatkin, his chamber music collaborators include Pamela Frank, Edgar Meyer, Olli Mustonen, Jean-Yves Thibaudet and the Orion String Quartet.

Among Bell's most recent recordings, a collaboration with Edgar Meyer titled "Short Trip Home" features original works in a mixture of classical, bluegrass and folk styles performed with guitarist Mike Marshall and mandolinist Sam Bush. Another release, "Listen to the Storyteller: A Trio of Musical Tales From Around the World," features Bell as soloist on "The Fiddler and the Dancin' Witch" by Wynton Marsalis. Marsalis, Meyer and Patrick Doyle each have contributed works for this album, which features Kate Winslet, Graham Greene and Marsalis as narrators. Yet another Bell project is a disc with composer/conductor John Williams featuring the music of George Gershwin.

In addition to Bell's appearance, the April 1 concert in Bailey Hall is the inaugural concert in a multiyear programming and educational partnership between the Orchestra of St. Luke's and the Cornell Concert Series. The partnership will bring the Orchestra of St. Luke's and prominent soloists to Cornell at least once a year for four years.

Two members of the orchestra -- concertmaster Krista Bennion Feeney and principal cellist Myron Lutzke -- will arrive in Ithaca two days before the concert to coach ensembles and conduct master classes for students at Cornell and Boynton Middle School.

"The Orchestra of St. Luke's has created a distinctive, vital identity and established a place for itself among the nation's finest musical institutions," said Richard Riley, concert manager of the Cornell Concert Series. "It is an ideal partner for the Cornell Concert Series. We look forward to a fruitful relationship."

The Orchestra of St. Luke's performs its subscription series at Carnegie Hall in New York City. During summers, the orchestra and chamber ensemble perform at the Caramoor Music Festival in Katonah, N.Y.

The orchestra's discography of more than 65 recordings includes two Grammy Award-winning releases for Nonesuch: John Adams' "Nixon in China" and Samuel Barber's "Knoxville: Summer of 1915" with Dawn Upshaw.