Meet the Guy Whose Phone Stopped the Philharmonic

'Patron X' is very, very sorry
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 13, 2012 12:59 PM CST
Updated Jan 15, 2012 11:56 AM CST
Meet the Guy Whose Phone Stopped the Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic new music director Alan Gilbert, right, conducts the philharmonic in this file photo.   (AP Photo/Chitose Suzuki)

He is identified somewhat ominously as "Patron X" by the New York Philharmonic, the unlucky soul whose phone kept ringing during a performance this week and caused the conductor to stop the show. The New York Times has an interview with the 60-something businessman, who says he had no idea his phone was the one jangling. It seems his company switched him from a BlackBerry to an iPhone the day before. He made a point to turn it off before the performance, but was unaware the alarm had been set.

"I didn’t even know phones came with alarms,” he says. "You can imagine how devastating it is to know you had a hand in that." When the conductor stopped the show and glared toward the offending sound, the gentleman fiddled with his phone, as did others nearby, and the sound stopped. It was only on the ride home that his wife figured out the alarm had been set. “I hope the people at that performance and members of the orchestra can certainly forgive me for this whole event." (More ringtones stories.)

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