Br. Sean Piwowar, O.P., on Stopping and Hearing the Music

"On a busy but forgettable January morning in 2007, over a thousand D.C. Metro passengers rushed by a busker playing a violin inside of L'Enfant Plaza station. Three months later, the Washington Post article 'Pearls Before Breakfast' revealed that the busker was the virtuoso violinist Joshua Bell, conducting a social experiment. The article and accompanying video, which came to be known as the 'Stop and Hear the Music' stunt, shocked the country and amassed millions of views. Very few people had paused to listen to 'one of the finest classical musicians in the world, playing some of the most elegant music ever written on one of the most valuable violins ever made' (G. Weingarten, 'Pearls Before Breakfast'). People reading 'Pearls Before Breakfast' and watching footage of commuters giving Bell no attention were asking themselves: would I have stopped to hear the music?

"You certainly don't have to be a Christian to be moved by the 'Stop and Hear the Music' stunt. But as Christians, we have the capacity to be especially attentive to beauty.. . ."

In a recent commentary, Brother Sean Piwowar, O.P., reflected on how" the presence of God is at all times a certain 'music,'" music worth stopping for.

To access Br. Anthony's complete post, please visit:

Dominicana: Stop and Hear the Music (20 JAN 26)