Joshua Bell Forum

[jazzychic]

Lisa is a lucky gal . wish them the best
_________________
JB rocks!

[florecita75]

and I return and I found this!!!!! Wow!!!!
He really took the time to tell us about his personal life!!!
Todavia no lo creo pero me parece super!!!
Joshua es papa!!!
Congratulations!!!

[noreen]

Congrats Josh and Lisa! What wonderful news! Josh, a Dad finally!

[bottlebutter]

many congrats to joshua. sure he will be great dad.

[thefoolonthehill]

Congrats! I'm glad that the 'family emergency' was what I thought it was. I'm glad to know everything is going okay, and congratulations again!
_________________
"A violinist should always be happy. If he is playing well, he should be happy that he is playing well. If he is not playing well, he should be happy that it's almost over." -Heiftz

[drokas]

Reading this has left me feeling really sad for that little boy.

[piano]

Why sad? ok, I know many of us have different opinions about this, but it's Josh's life. We'll never know how this whole thing will work with unmarried parents that live seperately. Do I support this? to be honest, I don't. But that's because I was raised in a religious/traditional values. However, am I happy for Josh?? I am! I think it seems like this is what he really wanted- to have a baby! and we can't really say anything bad about this since Josh is in a different situation...he travels non-stop and doesn't have time to settle down and it seems like this is what he chose to do in life forever. It seems like this was planned, so I'm sure that Josh and Lisa will do anything to make the boy happy...
_________________
~Revital~
"Auntie Revi"

[Songbird]

[poperagurl]

He has hinted that he will try to slow down his schedule a bit in the future. (I think he said that in the BBC music interview?)

[soundingboard74]

Children are always a blessing. However they came into this world and why is a private matter between its parents.

I know everyone's entitled to their opinion but if you want to start a discussion about the issue I suggest you open a new thread in the "Tangents and Strings" section.

[ingrid]

Congrats Josh! great to know you now have a family!!

[cpal]

CONGRATULATIONS, JOSHUA AND LISA!
I am so happy for the two of you. It sounds to me like you have agreed on the perfect situation, and I wish the three of you the BEST that life has to offer.
God Bless.....
Carol

[kateholli]

BRAVO!! Congrats!!
That is such great news, and I really have difficulty in not getting too upset by people 'not supporting this'.
Little Josef surely is a lucky child to have two smart and caring parents who doubtlessly will do everything they can to raise him as a happy and well-loved child. And his Dad has already shown his determinedness to be part of his life by cancelling Cortona, good decision, one could never get these first days back.
All the best to all the three of you, and thank you so much for informing your fans personally!
I was in the Braunschweig audience last week and had a wonderful evening with you and Maestro Masur, thank you for that also!

Kind regards, Bettina

[SymphonyGirl]

I really didn't want my first post here to be one in which I disagreed with anyone but several things about this thread bother me.

Everyone seems so "shocked". In fact, "shocked" is the word I see the most. I do not understand why everyone should be so shocked at the personal turn of events in Josh's life.

For one thing, I think it shows incredible respect for his fans that Josh shared the information on the birth of his newborn son here first. And for his trouble, his posts were treated, by at least one person, with suspicion. I understand trolls (I'll probably be accused of being one for this very post) but this is also an official forum with moderators who have the ability to remove untrue and inflammatory posts.

Second: Why is everyone shocked? Josh is nearly 40 years old and, for whatever reasons personal to him, he has not married. Yet he wants a legacy to carry on his father's side of the Bell name and an heir for his own estate. Added to that, it's been my experience that Josh is very fond of children and wants to be a father.

Do I agree with his unconventional and unorthodox methods in becoming a father? No, I don't. But those are my personal beliefs. Josh's reasons for becoming a father and the methods he chose are his and his alone. I might not agree with them however, I do believe that, being the person and artist that he is, Josh did not undertake this lightly. And for that I am grateful. Josef is not an accessory for him. Too many celebrities jump into child rearing or child adoption for reasons not much better than publicity. Josh didn't do that here. He knew the news would come out and he broke the story in a controlled and tasteful way. More celebrities should pattern their conduct after Josh in regards to the publicity of their children.

Third: Comments about Lisa Matricardi being "lucky". Lucky about what exactly? Lucky that she's a new mother and experiencing the joys of giving birth and mothering a healthy newborn son or lucky that Josh chose her to be the mother of his son? I'm sensing the latter and hopefully I'm wrong. There is something a little bit wrong in that sentiment. I do not believe for one second that Josh and Lisa did not agonize and think and rethink a decision that is life altering for them both. Luck, in my opinion, had very little to do with this. They might not be together as a couple, but they obviously love each other very much and perhaps in a way that the world has yet to give a name to.

Another concern I have is that there is this concern that some of Josh's fans will fall away from him because of this and the intimations I am getting is that

1. They'd fall away because now he's a father and maybe that disturbs secret romantic fantasies.

2. The somewhat unorthodox manner in which he went about his fatherhood. I can understand that being a "marriage first" person myself.

I understand that an artist's personal life should be their own but that's patently unrealistic at best. In order to purchase an artist's work and respect that artist, many fans do look to how that artist conducts his or her personal life. I don't personally believe that how Josh arrived at fatherhood is a "deal breaker" as far as continuing to support his music but some might. The best I can say is "that's a shame". Josh is to our time what other great artists, composers and musicians were to theirs.

I "get" the romantic fantasy thing. I don't condone it necessarily but he is pretty dreamy so I get it. But his becoming a father and having a relationship with any woman is essentially no one's business and it is to be expected. Not continuing to support his music over something like that is short of ridiculous in my personal opinion.

Josh has not exactly been a "tabloid darling" and I'm certainly grateful for that. He's one of the few tasteful and elegant artists who treat their chosen professions as just that: a profession and a craft. While most of us never ever want to see Josh exiting an SUV with no underwear on, we also know something like that would never happen. He's conducted himself throughout his career with elegance, dignity, taste and simplicity. He's also worked incredibly hard and through it all, maintained an unprecedented air of modesty. He has a wonderful moment of joy in his life that awards, sold out concert halls, and other accolades simply cannot compare to.

I have probably offended some with my first, and lengthy, post but I've lurked and read and read and simply felt the need to speak up.

[piano]

Hi SymphonyGirl,

First of all, WELCOME to the forum! I must say, I enjoyed reading your very first post over here. You had good points and I totally agree with you and feel the same.

As for the "shock"..... many of us over here already speculated why he cancelled a concert. But the thing is, I think many of us were in shock just because the news came out from him and he posted over here! (which he rarely does). I do understand that he's almost in his 40s and to be honest, I was waiting for the day I'd hear he'll have children, but many of us believe in "marriage first" so it was a bit of a shock also to hear that he has a baby first.

But anyway, I don't think you offended anyone, and again WELCOME.
_________________
~Revital~
"Auntie Revi"