Will Viral Video Work?

Here’s the challenge. Two performances of Brahms Requiem presented on Halloween weekend. Will students come to hear this concert? Will readers be thinking the answer is obvious? Is the writer of this post delusional?

The writer believes in the possibility of enlightened students speaking to their peers. But the writer is also fully aware of the “prep” activities that precede campus and young adulthood Halloween celebrations.

The effort of the video is to encourage students to do it all. They can still hear the concert and make it to the parties before all the antics have fizzled out. The idea is to virally share a video promoting the concert. But does a little more than gives who, what, when, were information. This video helps answer “Why?”

The video features one Lehigh University student, who was identified at a rehearsal by his own choice of wardrobe. He was wearing a T-shirt that day that said, “Ask me about choir.” The student also happens to be an engineer. In under two minutes, we see some interesting insights into what the singer thinks about Brahms Requiem.

I have it on good authority that this student is not unique. There’s a ton of Engineering and Business students mixed with Arts & Science students involved in the arts at Lehigh University. Their participation is evidence of the quality of education at Lehigh University. One doesn’t need to be a music major to sing in the choir. They can continue their artistic pursuits while studying ANYTHING in the curriculum.

The questions now are – can these enlightened students grab the support of their peers? Is the video effective? Will we think of success only in terms of how many “butts in the seats” at the concert? Or how many people see the video?

Perhaps this effort is just another grain of sand in the mountain of work of arts visibilty at our venerable institution.