“One of the loveliest communal new-music experiences you'll ever encounter.”
— TIME OUT
Welcome!
Phil Kline’s Unsilent Night is a mobile outdoor sound sculpture in which the audience becomes the performer. Composed in 1992, this multi-track electronic ambient piece has become a beloved annual holiday tradition for people around the world.
It’s very simple to do: Each participant simultaneously plays one of four pre-recorded tracks from any device that amplifies music (such as a phone connected to speakers, a boombox, a homemade rig) as they walk together on a pre-determined route.
“a shimmering sound-wall of bells and chimes that is dreamlike to wander through in the December nip.”
— THE VILLAGE VOICE
Phil’s collection of vintage Panasonic RFS430 boomboxes.
The entire piece is 45 minutes long (the length of one side of a cassette, the medium Phil wrote this for), creating a layered soundscape that constantly changes as it travels through space and time.
Unsilent Night has been presented by municipalities, parks, museums, universities, music ensembles, wineries, libraries, and groups of friends in over 170 cities on five continents.