Flash mob video gets 3.1 million views

WELLAND, Ontario, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- The Canadian students behind a flash mob performance of Handel's "Messiah" said they were shocked to receive more than 3.1 million YouTube views in 10 days.

Stephanie Tritchew, 22, a student at the University of Western Ontario's Don Wright Faculty of Music, begins the video by singing the "Hallelujah Chorus" in Welland's Seaway Mall food court, leading about 100 other participants, fellow members of Chorus Niagara, to stand or run in from other areas and join the song.

A video of the performance was posted on YouTube and received more than 3.1 million hits in just 10 days, the Toronto Sun reported.

"I thought it was a really fun thing to do. But I had no idea it would get to this," Tritchew said of her surprise at the video's popularity.

She said she has received correspondence about the video from as far away as Switzerland and Australia.

"They say, 'we just want to let you know that you brought joy to our lives.' It's just really touching to get that reaction from people," Tritchew said.