Surprise Music in the Mall

Rev. James Dekker recognizes a few of the people who suddenly start singing the “Hallelujah Chorus” to a startled, food-court crowd  in what has been the most viewed video this week on the social-video network “YouTube.”

Viewed over 13 million times, the video shows Chorus Niagara singers standing up one at a time to belt out "hallelujahs" from the famed chorus in Handel's Messiah in front of a spur-of-the-moment congregation in the Seaway Mall in Welland, Ontario.

When he first viewed the Saturday, Nov. 13, concert on YouTube, Dekker realized that some of the singers attend Christian Reformed Church congregations in the nearby community of St. Catherine’s.

But it wasn’t the familiar people that made him watch.

“It wasn’t just the sound and quality of the video that attracted me, it was also the joyful looks on the faces of the shoppers,” says Dekker, a CRC pastor who wrote about this mall-court concert in his blog on the CRC’s The Network long before the video gained such a wide audience.

“It was remarkable. It was a divine act of providence. I was amazed to see how the people reacted. They all looked so pleased,” says Dekker.

In his blog on The Network, Dekker wrote, “On YouTube, this video has in a short week picked up more than half-a-million hits. I guess there are different ways to get the message of Messiah across. Hum, sing along and praise God for the gift of Jesus.”

Although it seemed spontaneous, Chorus Niagara prepared for this surprise performance for several weeks. Among other things, one of the chorus members made sure that the concert was professionally videotaped before it could be posted to YouTube.

The video begins with panoramic shots of the food court, of people eating and talking, unaware that they are about to be entertained.

One chorus member said the event was modeled on "flash mobs," brief events often planned through social media in order to mobilize large groups of people quickly. This  “random acts of culture” was geared to bring sudden joy and pleasure into the lives of people.

Dekker compares the concert to what happened in the obscure stable in Bethlehem in Judea more than 2000 years ago. The mall itself is modest and several of its stores have closed. “There is this smallness and yet this burst of divine light shined in a dark place,” he says.

Mall officials knew that it was going to take place, but made sure to keep the concert a secret until it occurred.

Chorus members practiced in the mall that morning, to the surprise of early-morning mall walkers. When it was show time, singers weren’t just sitting at tables. Some were pretending to buy food or were just strolling alone. One member dressed up as a janitor.

A pianist playing mall Christmas tunes gave everyone the signal to begin by finishing the last chords of “Jingle Bells.”

“That is a sweet video,” says a man on a response page on The Network. “I've seen it all over Facebook. There's another one … (an) opera done in Macy's in NYC and other department stores. But what a great way to bring the Messiah to a community who may otherwise not hear it.”

This weekend the 100-voice Chorus Niagara will perform their biennial Christmas performance of Handel’s Messiah. Widespread media attention, spurred by the YouTube video, has helped in ticket sales.

“It’s incredible,” said conductor and artistic director Robert Cooper of the group’s sudden 15 minutes of fame. He spoke to a local newspaper.

“There is obviously some sort of buzz,” he said. “It’s been quite remarkable, this kind of reaction.”

For more information about the chorus, visit www.chorusniagara.ca.

To read more and add your comments, check out the Pastor's blog on The Network.