Quotes

Quote 222 of 521

Toward the end of his half-hour with Rafal, a cellular phone went off
somewhere in the room--a big taboo at a serious music event--and it
wasn't just a discreet ring but one of those long, offensive
electronic jingles that lasts for several seconds. Heads wheeled
around to identify the perpetrator, but no one was fessed up. The
phone rang again, and a painful silence descended.

On the third ring, the culprit identified himself. To everyone's
surprise, he was not sitting among the audience, but standing in front
of the room holding a mike and looking very sheepish.

"It's my phone," said Ma, turning several shades closer to his
sweater. "I was trying to ignore it, but I just couldn't. You know
those times when you just want to crawl into a little hole and pretend
you don't exist?"

Jeremy Eichler, on a master class taught by Yo-Yo Ma,
		   http://slate.msn.com/culturebox/entries/01-03-20_102916.asp

Tags: seriousmusic littlehole musicevent jingles perpetrator culprit cellularphone halfhour taboo shades silence audience surprise