Modern mobile phones do a lot to make our lives easier, but sometimes they can be a bother, too. Most teachers, preachers, public speakers, and performers are familiar with the annoyance of having a phone ring when it shouldn’t. Even the New York Philharmonic was recently brought to a screeching halt when a man with a new iPhone failed to realize that flipping the silent switch doesn’t silence the phone’s alarms. Performers react in a variety of ways, though. Many take it in stride. Others get annoyed, some just stop and wait.
One video that has been making the rounds lately is an example of the best way to handle such an interruption. Performing at a synagogue in Presov, Slovakia, Lukas Kmit was finishing up his viola performance when someone’s phone began chirping the famous Nokia ringtone. Kmit recognized that the ringtone was actually a selection from Gran Vals, a piece written by Spanish composer Francisco Tárrega in 1902. Apparently familiar with the piece, Kmit decided to wrap up his performance with a brief encore. Check out the video below: