The standard was set by Stanley Drucker, principal clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic, who is retiring at 80 after playing more than 10,000 concerts with the orchestra in his 62-year career.

On Thursday evening at Lincoln Centre for the Performing Arts, Mr Drucker was soloist with the Philharmonic in Aaron Copland's Clarinet Concerto.

The new Guinness record was announced just after his performance, with the text: 'The longest career as a clarinetist was achieved by Stanley Drucker who performed professionally for 62 years, 7 months, 1 day as of June 4, 2009.'

Mr Drucker has been with the orchestra longer than any other Philharmonic musician, heard live by more than 40 million people at more than 10,200 concerts. That's equivalent to 70 per cent of all Philharmonic concerts since America's oldest orchestra was founded in 1842.

Mr Drucker's final concert with the orchestra is to be on July 31 in Vail, Colorado, where the Philharmonic plays during the summer.

He was 19 when he joined the orchestra in 1948 and was named principal clarinet in 1960 by Leonard Bernstein. Mr Drucker has played under 400 conductors, from Bruno Walter and Zubin Mehta to the current, outgoing music director, Lorin Maazel.

Mr Drucker's son, Leon, attained musical fame of his own as the longtime bassist for the rockabilly revival trio the Stray Cats, performing under the name Lee Rocker.

The clarinetist is the subject of a current exhibit at Lincoln Centre's Avery Fisher Hall that includes photographs and music written for him, as well as videos of performances around the world.

Danny Girton Jr, a Guinness adjudication executive, called the clarinetist's accomplishments 'without question truly world-class.' -- AP