The shower of accolades bestowed upon Joshua Bell over the course of his still young career could flood Royal Albert Hall. The Grammy Award-winning classical violinist, now 40, received the $75,000 Avery Fisher Prize last year, and he was the only American musician to be recognized by the World Economic Forum as one of the 250 Young Global Leaders. Billboard Magazine named Bell “Classical Artist of the Year” in 2004, and he was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame in 2005. He has also been named one of People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People. The Indiana native began drawing national attention when he was only 14 and made his first recording when he was 18. He has now toured the world repeatedly and has recorded more than 30 CDs. His most recent recording, 2007’s “The Red Violin Concerto,” paired him with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Corigliano, who wrote the Oscar-winning score to the 1999 film, “The Red Violin.” But Bell has also tried his hand at a number of genres outside the classical realm, collaborating with a range of artists that includes Josh Groban, James Taylor, Chick Corea, Bobby McFerrin, Bela Fleck and Sting. Bell will bring his 1713 Gibson Stradivarius violin to The Music Hall in Portsmouth on Sunday, March 9, joining pianist Jeremy Denk. The venue is billing Bell as “one of the biggest legends to ever grace The Music Hall’s stage.” The Wire recently spoke to Bell about the latest turns in his career and his undying passion for classical music.

First off, can you describe the concept behind the “Red Violin Concerto?”
The score was written about eight years ago for the film, and John Corigliano won the Oscar and all that stuff. At the time, when he wrote the score, I wanted him to write me a piece I could play in concert. I really loved the music for it and I wanted to be able to play it in concert. So he wrote me a piece called “Chaconne,” which turned out to be a 17-minute piece that I performed a lot. Several years later, just a couple years ago now, he decided to turn that into a full violin concerto, so he added three movements and made a big four-movement piece, which is 40 minutes long. So that’s how it started. Several orchestras around the country commissioned him to write this piece, and I performed it in those places, and then, now, I just recently recorded it. I think it will be one of the really big, important violin concertos in the repertoire for this 21st century, so I’m very happy to be a part of that birth of it, you know?

I’m intrigued by the range of projects you’ve been involved in. It sounds like your musical interests, while focused in the classical vein, extend beyond the classical arena. Would that be accurate to say?
Yeah. The thing is, you know, “classical” is such a broad term, anyway. There’s a lot of modern classical music that I feel less in common with than I do with Gershwin or bluegrass, which would be outside of the so-called classical music world. Already, when you’re playing classical music, you’re playing a range from Bach to Prokofiev. I mean, on the program I’m doing in Portsmouth, it ranges 300 years. So to term something “classical music” is very broad anyway. So, the fact is, yes, I enjoy doing projects outside of the normal comfort zone for me, just because I learn a lot from it. For instance, my project with (double bassist) Edgar Meyer, and then the bluegrass guys. That really stretched me, but it really was a great experience and I learned a lot. A lot of what I learned, I think, really helped my classical playing.

Do you have to put yourself in a new mindset and kind of reprogram yourself every time you embark on a new and different project?
Again, being classical, you’re wearing many hats all the time. On the program I’m doing in Portsmouth, I start out with a Baroque piece and then I have to jump straight from that into Prokofiev, which is a completely different mindset and way of thinking. So, you’re kind of used to that. But, essentially, it all is the same thing: You’re telling a story through music and you have to get into the style of the particular composer. It’s just something you do have to do, but it’s part of what I’m used to.

You’re obviously a musician in high demand. How do you decide which projects are worth tackling and which ones to turn down?
Luckily, right now, I have the luxury of being able to choose things to do. I’m not just trying to put food on the table with my music, which is nice, so I can really choose the things I want to do, and some of them are things I love to do. Like, I love playing chamber music and projects like chamber music, projects with my friends. It’s not particularly lucrative but it’s very stimulating. I have to kind of balance those with the big concerto playing and taking on occasional projects like film scores—I’m about to take on another film score—and other things. So, I’m still always trying to find the right balance between that and, also, just time alone, time not touring. I’m having a hard time saying no and leaving chunks of time to just be doing nothing. That’s the hardest thing for me to do, actually, is to say no, because I love playing, but you need time to try to recharge.

Of course, you’ve also performed music by many of the classical greats—Beethoven and Tchaikovsky and Mendelssohn. Do you still have a special fondness for playing their music?
Well, yeah, that’s actually the core of what I do. I would say 80 percent of what I do is the Tchaikovsky and the Mendelssohn and the Beethoven. That’s like the heart and soul of the classical repertoire, or the bread and butter, although that’s kind of demeaning, because it’s just such an incredible music. I couldn’t live without doing, regularly, the Brahms and Beethoven and Bach, and those are such classics that you never get bored of them, really. I mean, I suppose if I were to do the Beethoven over and over again every night, I could get tired of it. But, basically, you can keep coming back to them and find new things. It’s like after doing “Hamlet,” it’s like you can never really fully get to the place that you want to get to.

You’re one of a handful of Americans who are really respected around the world for your violin playing. Do you find that audiences react differently or have a different appreciation for classical music depending on what country you’re in?
Yeah, it does vary. Going to Europe, the way people respond to music in different places does vary. Going from the north of Italy to the south of Italy, the audiences are different. I spend about a third of my time in Europe. In some ways, classical music is very close to home in Europe. The core that we were talking about really comes from there. There’s an appreciation among everybody. In Germany, for instance, they kind of grow up with Bach, Beethoven and Brahms from (an) early age, as part of their culture. In the United States, I wish it was more like that, but, I mean, there are great audiences in the States as well, and most of what I do is here.

Finally, what kind of things can guests expect to hear at The Music Hall?
Well, it’s a real variety. I kind of like to plan a program like a meal, so that you get a variety of things. We start out with the Baroque, something very old, a virtuoso piece called “The Devil’s Trill Sonata,” by Tartini, which is really a sort of violin showpiece from the 18th century. And then Prokofiev, which is very dark and takes you on a real journey. And then the second half is more romantic music and melodic and beautiful. And then little things that are not on the program, some little pieces. So it’ll be a wide variety of things.

Joshua Bell’s 7 p.m. performance at The Music Hall on Sunday, March 9, is sold out.