Have you ever been just hanging out somewhere in a public place, when all of a sudden dozens of musicians come out of nowhere and start playing a standard of the classical music repertoire? No? Well, you're just about the only person who hasn't, because it turns out that classical music flashmobs are incredibly common. Here are videos of 11 recent examples of classical musicians taking their craft to the streets.
Grieg in the streets
Watch a bemused crowd gather as members of the Bachus Classic Orchestra gather in Poland to play In the Hall of the Mountain King. The first bassist to arrive even gets a tip!
Getting sexy in Central Station
Starting with the snare, the Copenhagen Phil took over Copenhagen Central Station to serenade the commuters with Ravel's Bolero.
A little lunch music
Musicians at the University of Colorado Boulder surprised a lunchtime crowd at a campus dining hall with Pachelbel and more.
Really Corking
To promote the Early Cork Music Festival, string players took to the streets.
Joy in Jerusalem
In Jerusalem, the Raanana Symphonette Orchestra Israel stepped out in the Jewish Quarter with a perpetual flashmob favorite: Beethoven's Ode to Joy.
Zadok in the supermarket
Classic FM celebrated its 20th birthday by assembling a chorus to perform Handel's Zadok the Priest in a supermarket, where members of a confused crowd listen politely.
Band on a bus
Well, here's an easy way to get a lot of musicians on the scene quickly: at Columbia University, WNET imported a small orchestra atop a bus.
Star Wars in Cologne
Props to the WDR Radio Orchestra for one of the best-coordinated flashmobs, suddenly popping up to play John Williams's Star Wars theme in Cologne.
Tchaikovsky in Valencia
The young musicians of Banda Simfonica d'Algemesi performed the 1812 Overture (cannon not included, fortunately) al fresco. (Rodrigo, in Mozart in the Jungle, had the same idea.)
Beethoven in Times Square
The International Chamber Orchestra of America brought Beethoven to Times Square — and it wasn't the Ninth Symphony! Praise be.
Ode to Europe
The Valladolid Young Symphonic Orchestra performed the Ode to Joy — the European anthem — at a Europe Day celebration in Geneva, 2014.
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