Yes, that's right; a piece of music has been written and successfully performed using cellular phones and a symphony orchestra at the same time, according to this article in the New York Times.
Apparently the hardest part is making sure the audience members know how to make their phones ring on cue. The director of the Chicago Sinfonietta says he got the idea in the airport, noticing how many people were talking on cellphones.
“I thought, ‘Darn, if you can’t beat them, join them,’ ” Mr. Freeman said. He approached several composers, including Mr. Baker, 74, who is also director of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra.
“My first inclination was to ask him what he was smoking,” Mr. Baker said. But the idea appealed to him. He struggled for five weeks on how to reconcile diametrically opposed elements — an orchestra and cellphones — and came up with the idea of having onstage cellphones with his own themes, and a division of phones in the hall.
But the audience participation was key. “It was a way of giving people control at a concert,” he said. “I’m hoping people will see the comedic element, but more importantly, that maybe you can have fun at a symphony concert.” The piece was also a recognition that cellphones “are not going to go away,” he said.
Okay, praise band leaders--it's your turn! How many songs at your next youth worship have a place for cellphones, which you know those guys in the back are using the whole time anyway?
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