Photos by Will Davison

It wasn’t exactly a flash mob. No choreography.

And it wasn’t really a surprise, because a video precursor – perhaps the inspiration – has gone viral on YouTube recently.

But the surprise concert of one very popular Christmas song that was shared Sunday afternoon at the Westfield Valencia Town Center was certainly a gift, celebrated by both those listening and those performing.

A community gift from churches, the Santa Clarita Master Chorale and various high school choirs came exactly at 2 p.m. in the mall’s center court near JCPenney, when a note was struck and hundreds of people burst into Handel’s “Messiah.”