Cell Phone Stops Lincoln Center Symphony

New York Philharmonic conductor Alan Gilbert brought Mahler's Ninth to a screeching halt when an audience member allowed his iPhone to continue ringing.

The iPhone marimba ring kept going — and going — until concertgoers pointed out the area where the guilty party sat, a witness said. Finally, a man reached into his pocket and turned off the phone. Gilbert asked him if the device was off and the man nodded. "Mr. Gilbert did what we all wanted to do," said concertgoer Sarah Newman-Strauss, 57. "This man was incredibly rude! He wouldn’t even confess until it became unbearable." Concertgoers shouted "get him out of here!" and "take his tickets!" Newman-Strauss said.

The audience then gave Gilbert a standing ovation. If I was seated in Avery Fisher Hall and my phone made the slightest chirp, I'd die on the spot.