Truly Julie with the first ever NYC native New York Philharmonic conductor Alan Gilbert! You recall that silly phone commercial…”Can you hear me now?”. Um..turns out…YES…EVERYONE CAN HEAR THAT RINGING. And ringing. And more ringing. Still going. An iphone Marimba ring rang for 6 whole minutes during the most intimate part of Mahler’s 9th Symphony during the New York Philharmonic concert this week. So…maestro Alan Gilbert did the unprecedented…he silenced his orchestra and confronted the cell phone offender. This is by far my favorite story I’ve done in 2012. Perhaps because Alan Gilbert is one cool cat…and he totally finished on a high note when I “punk’d” him during our interview. You have to see his expression! He raises his eyebrows so high…they almost fall off his head. And folks, if you’ve never experienced a philharmonic concert at Lincoln Center…you’re simply missing out on one of the most poetic cultural events in NYC. Tickets for open rehearsal are just $16 so treat yourself…but please..turn off that cell! Hmm..maybe Alan will make Marimba into a symphony….