New York, New York
Hong Kong, China
Langeais, France
Auckland, New Zealand
Montréal, Québec
New York, New York Hong Kong, China Langeais, France Auckland, New Zealand Montréal, Québec
Unsilent Night is an original composition by Phil Kline, written specifically to be heard outdoors in the month of December. It takes the form of a street promenade in which the audience becomes the performer. Each participant gets one of four tracks of music in the form of a cassette, CD, or Mp3. Together all four tracks comprise Unsilent Night. The fact that the participants play different "parts" simultaneously helps create the special sound of the piece. Participants carry boomboxes, or anything that amplifies music, and simultaneously start playing the music. They then walk a carefully chosen route through their city’s streets, creating a unique mobile sound sculpture which is different from every listener's perspective.
It all started in winter 1992, when Phil had an idea for a public artwork in the form of a holiday caroling party. He composed a multi-track electronic piece that was 45 minutes long (the length of one side of a cassette tape), invited a few dozen friends who gathered in Greenwich Village, gave each person a boombox with one of four tapes in it, and instructed everyone to hit PLAY at the same time. What followed was a sound unlike anything they had ever heard before: an evanescence filling the air, reverberating off the buildings and city streets as the crowd walked a pre-determined route. Phil says: “In effect, we became a city-block-long stereo system.”
The piece was so popular that it became an annual tradition, and then an international phenomenon, spreading across the USA and to other countries worldwide. Since 1992, it has been presented in 173 cities and five continents, drawing thousands of participants.
32 Years, 173 Cities, 5 Continents
Expand any section to see where Unsilent Night has previously been hosted!
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Albuquerque, NM
Amesbury, MA
Ann Arbor, MI
Arcata, CA
Asbury Park, NJ
Asheville, NC
Athens, GA
Atlanta, GA
Austin, TX
Baltimore, MD
Berkeley, CA
Boston, MA
Boulder, CO
Bowling Green, OH
Breckenridge, CA
Buffalo, NY
Carson City, NV
Charleston, SC
Charleston, WV
Charlotte, NC
Charlottesville, VA
Chicago, IL
Cincinnati, OH
Claremont, NH
Cleveland, OHColorado Springs, CO
Columbia, MD
Dallas, TX
Delaware, OH
Denver, CO
Detroit, MI
Dickinson, ND
East Lansing, MIFargo, ND
Flagstaff, AZFlorence, AL
Fort Worth, TX
Gettysburg, PA
Granville, OHGreen Bay, WI
Greenfield, MA
Greenville, SC
Harrisburg, PA
Houston, TX
Hudson, NY
Indianapolis, IN
Iowa City, IA
Jackson, MS
Johnson City, TN
Joshua Tree, CA
Kalamazoo, MI
Kansas City, MO
Kennett Square, PA
Kenosha, WIKent, OH
Kettering, OH
Kingston, NY
Kirksville, MS
Knoxville, TNLancaster, NY
Lenox, MA
Lexington, KY
Little Rock, AK
Longmont, CO
Long Beach, CA
Los Angeles, CA
Louisville, KY
Lubbock, TXMadison, WI
Malden, MA
Manassas, VA
McAllen, TX
Memphis, TN
Miami, FL
Milledgeville, GA
Milwaukee, WIMinneapolis, MN
Missoula, MT
Mobile, AL
Montclair, NJ
Monticello, MN
Mount Pleasant, MI
Morehead, KY
Mount Pleasant, MI
Nacogdoches, TX
Nashville, TN
Nevada City CA
New Haven, CT
New York, NY
Newnan, GA
Norfolk, VA
North Adams, MA
Oberlin, OH
Oklahoma City, OK
Omi, NY
Orange, CA
Orlando, FLPhiladelphia, PA
Port Angeles, WA
Port Jefferson, NY
Portland, OR
Providence, RI
Raleigh, NCReno, NV
Richmond, VA
Sacramento, CA
Salt Lake City, UT
San Diego, CA
San Francisco, CA
San Marcos, TX
San Jose, CA
Santa Barbara, CA
Santa Cruz, CA
Santa Fe, NM
Santa Monica, CA
Santa Rosa, CA
Seattle, WA
Silver Spring, MD
Sitka, AK
Springfield, IL
St. George, UT
Syracuse, NY
Tacoma, WA
Tallahassee, FL
The Bronx, NY
Tours, France
Traverse City, MI
Tucson, AZ
Tuscaloosa, AL
Washington, DC
West Point, GA
Williamston, MA
Wilmington, DE
Whitesburg, KY
Winchester, VA -
Banff, Alberta
Beaverlodge, Alberta
Beaverton, Ontario
Cambridge, Ontario
Edmonton, Alberta
Fredericton, New Brunswick
Montréal, Québec
North Battleford, Saskatchewan
Saskatoon, SaskatchewanSherwood Park, Alberta
St. John, New Brunswick
St. Albert, Alberta
Toronto, OntarioVancouver, British Columbia
Whitehorse, Yukon -
Berlin, Germany
Birmingham, United KingdomOxford, UK
Brussels, Belgium
Derry, Ireland
Frankfurt, Germany
Hamburg, Germany
Huddersfield, United Kingdom
Langeais, France
London, United Kingdom
Middlesbrough, United Kingdom
Neuvy-Le-Roi, FrancStokesley, North Yorkshire, England
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Auckland, New Zealand
Brisbane, Australia
Hong Kong, China
Johannesburg, South Africa
Melbourne, Australia
Porirua, New Zealand
Sydney, Australia
Tokyo, JapanWellington, New Zealand