Thread: Orlando International Airport Hallelujah Chorus Flash Mob

Orlando International Airport Hallelujah Chorus Flash Mob

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmtgNmKMFRw

December 19, 2010

On December 18th, 2010 at 4 pm, hundreds of unsuspecting passengers at the Orlando International Airport in Orlando, Florida got a huge surprise when over 100 chorus participants began to sing the Hallelujah Chorus unannounced in the Main Terminal! What a great way to start Christmas!

Flash mob performs 'Hallelujah' at Orlando International Airport

'To me, it celebrates the Christmas spirit,' Messiah Choral Society member Gene Tate says

December 18, 2010
By Jeff Weiner, Orlando Sentinel

At 3:45 p.m., it was just another Saturday at Orlando International Airport. People were milling about, distracted by cell phones, possible flight delays, holiday plans and security lines.

Just after 4 p.m., the music kicked on, and about 120 of those people started singing at the top of their lungs.

It was no spontaneous eruption of holiday cheer, though it may have inspired one. It was what's known as a "flash mob" — a planned outburst of organized activity in a public place, generally intended to break up the status quo.

But those involved said Saturday's flash mob attained a more specific goal.

"To me, it celebrates the Christmas spirit," Messiah Choral Society member Gene Tate said.

During the OIA flash mob, members of the Messiah Choral Society were joined by the Bach Festival Choir in a rendition of the "Hallelujah" chorus. The mob was the brainchild of United Arts of Central Florida President Margot Knight and Carolyn Fennell, OIA's director of public affairs.

Fennell said the goal of the flash mob was simple: In a stressful time of year to travel, it aimed to inject some holiday spirit and alleviate tension as much as possible.

To aid in that goal, OIA has brought in holiday entertainment both traditional, and, in the case of Saturday's choral explosion, decidedly nontraditional.

"It really does reduce the anxiety," Fennell said.

In the atrium area near the Hyatt Regency, the teeming travelers' reactions when the singing began was anything but anxious. Surprised might be a more apt description. However, barely a verse was done before the camera phones came out, and the shocked expressions turned to smiles.

As a conductor directed them from a second-story balcony, the singers belted out the well-known chorus from Handel's "Messiah." When it was over, the singers were greeted with raucous applause — and, in some cases, heartfelt thanks.

"I was talking to [Fennell]," Messiah Choral Society member Gene Tate said, "and somebody came up and said, 'You know, I cried during this. It made me feel so much like the Christmas spirit now.' "

The current flash-mob phenomenon started in 2003, when, according to various reports, a man known only as "Bill" organized the first flash mobs as a social experiment. Bill Wasik, at the time a senior editor for Harper's Magazine, later revealed himself in the magazine's March 2006 issue to be the mysterious "Bill." He is currently a senior editor for Wired magazine.

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/201 ... al-society