JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — William Bell of Jacksonville admits the old saying is true.
To get to Carnegie Hall in New York City, you have to practice, practice, practice.
That’s what the Cathedral Arts Project String Orchestra member, 17, said he’s been doing with the violin for the past decade or so, ever since the delicate instrument became an extension of his left arm.
All that practice led to the Riverside High School student earning second place at the nonprofit Crescendo International Music Competition that led to his Feb. 12 performance at Carnegie Hall.
Not bad for something he said is a hobby that will remain so as he pursues a career in law, finance and “a little bit of everything else.”
“I do not say that to be arrogant, but I mean it is literally a hobby. I will not even major in it,” Bell said. ”... I will continue being married to my violin. I love the bride I have been given, and I will continue. And I will still enjoy performing and going to performances.”
Remembering her son playing on the Carnegie Hall stage that chilly Manhattan day, mother Kimberly McCormick called it “absolutely breathtaking.”
“To just be a part of it, to just be in Carnegie Hall, it was just fabulous and amazing to watch those kids,” she said. “There was so much talent under one roof. ... He’s always been very confident when speaking in front of crowds and performing, so I didn’t have a doubt.”
Where it all began
Crescendo Competitions for youth started in 2007, helping aspiring young musicians maximize their potential while offering a professional setting to showcase their talents at concert halls worldwide. Performers also interact with other musicians.
The Cathedral Arts Project provides visual and performing arts instruction for school-aged children in Northeast Florida. It has a string orchestra for children in fourth through 12th grade at Central Riverside Elementary School, as well as past students, funded by Jacksonville’s Kids Hope Alliance.
Bell’s love of music began when he was a second-grader at Central Riverside, where his mother is a teacher. McCormick said he heard the string instruments playing and came running to her, she said.
”‘Oh Mama, I want to play the violin.’ And like any parent, I said, ‘Sure son,’” she said with a laugh. “But sure enough, he was able to enroll. ... He’s been doing it ever since.”
Bell thanks his violin and music teachers for working hard with him to get where he is, especially the “necessities of technique.” Calling the violin one of the instruments that is closest to the human voice, he said he naturally had an “attachment to it and a community of music” in his life.
“I took it from there as far as creating a character that actually touches an audience,” Bell said. ”... There was always music in the house, if it was my grandmother or even my great-grandmother who had a magnificent alto voice. And I had always loved singing.”
The annual Crescendo Competition has two rounds. First come auditions by video submission or in-person throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia from November to February. Based on the audition performance, judges assign a score that determines a contestant’s placement.
Cathedral Arts advocacy Vice President Lucy Chen heard Bell playing with the string orchestra last year and suggested he send in one of those video applications.
“She was just so intrigued and she told him about the program.” his mother said. “When he told me, once again I said, ‘Sure, Carnegie Hall, yeah.’ But sure enough, Chen called me and I said, ‘This is real!’”
An experience to remember
Bell said he had never entered a musical competition. And his mother said she had to talk him into sending the video in last fall. Chen accompanied him in his musical selection. A few weeks later, they learned he had placed second and was on his way to Carnegie.
Bell said he entered because of his respect for Chen and his love of the violin. But his mother said the news saw both of them “jumping up and down, and we just couldn’t believe it.”
Bell is also a co-teacher for a beginner’s violin class led by Cathedral’s string teaching artist fellow Joshua Stone at Central Riverside Elementary. When he heard the news that Bell was headed to Carnegie Hall, Stone called it “a great thing.”
“A lot of my students do it as a hobby. Some continue on, a small percentage go on and do it in college,” Stone said. “I think it’s fantastic that someone who does it as a hobby has the same opportunity as someone who does it as a major in college.”
On that trip to New York, Bell’s stage experience went from local recitals to Carnegie Hall, accompanied on stage by a pianist as they played Oskar Rieding’s violin concerto in B minor, he said.
“It was wonderful, simply wonderful,” he said. “The audience responded exactly as they were supposed to because I noticed that they were able to feel my own expression. I went above myself and outside of myself while I was playing, and enjoyed the company of a wonderful pianist.”
Bell’s Carnegie performance wasn’t the end of the competition. That performance can “confirm or change the results” received in the audition round, with grand prizes awaiting some of the performers, Crescendo officials said. Those winners will be announced at the end of the month.
The young violinist said his future could also include writing, which he likes, as well as law school, as he heeds his mother’s advice.
“I always tell him, never forget the violin,” McCormick said.
Bell is not the only recent young Jacksonville musician to grace the stage at Carnegie Hall. Pianist Katie Carlson qualified to play there after placing second at the 2019 American Protege’ International Music Competition. She competed in the 13- to 18-year-old age bracket at the early 2020 competition.
