Standing at three installments into The Loft Sessions, I have had the opportunity to experiment with and fuse my classical background in composition & arranging with that of popular music styles. While the last installment of The Loft Sessions (previous to the Xmas Flashmob) featured the likes of hip-hop, spoken word and classical fusions, I felt as though I wanted to focus on re-contextualizing the format in which we presented the Christmas inspired performance.

Three weeks prior to conducting the Flashmob I visited the MFA and was in awe as I walked through the Shapiro Family Courtyard. The atmosphere and architecture of the room was beautiful and felt very cinematic, giving me the idea that the setting would really lend itself to providing a strong foundation for an impromptu Christmas performance. In navigating the logistics of conducting the ‘Flashmob’ in a world-class art museum, I felt very humbled to have been welcomed by the MFA as they encouraged my idea to present this performance as a musical installation that was made possible through placing it in the interactive, heavily tracked Shapiro Family Courtyard.

Both myself, and Caitlin Bank (musical director) ran two choir rehearsals before a dress rehearsal including strings, as well as Mark Joseph for the first time. The rehearsals were all conducted in Berklee classrooms.

I can happily say that the feedback and traction that the latest video has received nationwide has been an incredibly humbling experience that I had not expected. The encouragement we’ve received has been inspiring in looking towards future projects.

Evan Chapman
Loft Sessions

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