Violinist Joshua Bell has been one of the most visible faces of classical music, to the point that even people who aren't classical music fans have heard him. There’s the soundtrack work for feature films, among them of course, The Red Violin. He made an Americana album with bassist Edgar Meyer and leading bluegrass players. He fused classical with Latin music in a collaboration with the band Tiempo Libre.

Now another side of Joshua Bell: On his new Beethoven recording, one of the world's best known violinists conducts the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.

"I've been around conductors my whole life and watched a lot of them. And very often I thought, 'I could do that,'" Bell joked. "For me, it just sort of evolved very naturally. It basically sprouts from chamber music, which has really been my great love all my life."

Bell talks with host John Schaefer about his role as music director of the Academy, a new (old) Guarneri violin and much more. Plus, he performs a Schubert sonatina live in the Soundcheck studio.

The Grammy Awards refer to themselves as “Music’s Biggest Night” – but this year, there’s another awards show that appears to be reaching for the title. This upcoming weekend’s Academy Awards ceremony is shaping up to be quite the musical event, with announced performances from Adele, Norah Jones, Barbra Streisand, Shirley Bassey, and the evening's host, Seth MacFarlane.

We talk with Melena Ryzik, New York Times culture reporter and blogger for their Carpetbagger blog, about why the show has embraced live music so fully this year -- and what to expect in the major musical awards categories. 

Even for quirky and creative electronic band Matmos, its new album is a bit of a left turn. The Marriage Of True Minds deals with paranormal or parapsychological brain activity, and specifically, telepathy. Watch the band perform a song from the album in the Soundcheck studio.

Japanese girl group The Suzan plays Mercury Lounge Wednesday night. Download the track "Ha Ha Ha."