On Monday evening, when Patricio Gallardo heard about the New York Philharmonic’s plans to open to the public for free its last rehearsal before its season premiere, he showed up at Lincoln Center at midnight without a sleeping bag or even a blanket. The next person in line did not show up until 5 a.m., but Mr. Gallardo was adamant about not catching a wink. He dutifully stood there all night, and only left his post to use the restroom at a nearby Starbucks. At 8 a.m. on Tuesday morning, he had bloodshot eyes, but he also had a ticket. “It’s absolutely, completely worth it,” he said with an assuring smile. “I had good motivation. I wanted to be sure I would get a good seat,” he said.

The Philharmonic has always opened its rehearsals to the public, but in the past, a general admission ticket cost $16. Tuesday marked the first time the Philharmonic opened a rehearsal to the public for free. The rehearsal featured a performance by Yo-Yo Ma.

“We wanted to create an event to launch our partnership with Credit Suisse,” the orchestra’s president and executive director, Zarin Mehta, said. “I actually came out here at 8 p.m. on my way home out of the office to see if people were here, and I was surprised that nobody was here. Next year if we do this again, I think the word would get out and people would start lining up earlier.”

But there were certainly no extra tickets to be seen. About 2,500 people turned out to receive the 2,088 tickets. Those who didn’t score a ticket received a CD as the consolation prize.

A visitor from Oakland, Calif., Jane Ellison, detailed the difference between those who waited alongside her for the free tickets, and those who would attend Tuesday evening’s gala performance.

“So tonight you’ll have the high rollers,” she said. “This morning you have the peasants. It’s kind of nice they are catering to both bookends,” she said. “It’s a very international crowd. We all commented on how many young people were in this crowd, which is great. They are doing a great job to make sure young people can come in and take advantage of something like this with a world-class iconic figure such as Yo-Yo Ma.”

Between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m., concertgoers finally took their seats as the 102 musicians gradually graced the stage wearing street clothes — blue jeans, red sweaters, lime polo shirts -— rather than their usual tuxedoes and evening gowns. The front 10 rows were off limits so that audience members couldn’t be privy to conversations between the conductor and the musicians.

The orchestra ran through the evening’s program of Antonin Dvorák compositions. And although the performance was billed as a rehearsal, the orchestra and the audience came prepared. Once Mr. Ma completed a stirring solo on Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104, the gracious crowd rewarded the Philharmonic with a standing ovation.