Now Welland is famous for more than its canal. It was a unique Christmas treat and also a terrific manner in which to celebrate community through song. So remarkable that it has inspired large scale imitation throughout the world as well as a heavy-duty number of hits on YouTube.
More than 80 Chorus Niagara singers who had previously blended into the crowd at Welland's busy Seaway Mall food court, systematically started to rise up from their seats one by one as well as from other strategic locations interspersed among the shoppers, and proceed
to sing a rousing version of the uplifting
"Hallelujah" chorus from Handel's famed Messiah. Shoppers sat stunned in awe.
In the video, watch St. Catharines' Stephanie Tritchew - one moment, she chats on her cell phone, the next moment - she belts out "hallelujahs."
The made-to-look-spontaneous event took weeks to plan, according to Jennifer Blakeley of Niagara Falls-based
Alphabet Photography. They organized the surprise event and posted it on YouTube. They modelled on "flash mobs," brief events often organized through social media in efforts to quickly mobilize large groups.
As a singer dressed up as a janitor holding a "wet floor" sign joins in, a young lad in the video looks totally mesmerized.
What a terrific idea to celebrate local music and Christmas. Take a deserved bow
Chorus Niagara!
