Cell phones take center stage.

• Position: Orchestra by David N. Baker - Brief article

Scores of cell phones twittered, beeped, and burbled all at once inside a concert hall in River Forest, Ill., on October 1. But the composer was delighted, and the orchestra--the Chicago Sinfonietta--continued playing the world premiere of the Concertino for Cellular Phones and Symphony Orchestra by David N. Baker, a music professor at Indiana University. Paul Freeman, the group's conductor, told the audience beforehand: "This is a great moment in history, when we can say to you, 'Ladies and gentlemen, turn on your cell phones.'" A device similar to a traffic light...