So I've been getting links from various friends to other mass Messiahs, also outside the concert hall. Thanks, guys! Based on one of those links, some digging produced this: many of them are part of the Knight Foundation's "Random Acts of Culture" program. This is honest to Pete one of the coolest ideas I've seen in years. The object of these events is to bring classical music to where people are. The theory is, this will break down the barriers between people who don't usually frequent concert halls and the music they'd find there if they did, thereby building the classical audience. The event in the link I posted yesterday had to have been inspired by these RAC's -- otherwise, way too much coincidence. But apparently it wasn't one of them, meaning the idea's spreading. Knight Foundation, I love you!