About "Unsilent Night":
"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 175 cities and five continents, drawing thousands of participants.
About This Event:
Clary and Cimermanis Little Free Library has presented Phil Kline's "Unsilent Night" in Malden, MA since 2017. In 2024, CCLFL partnered with Longy School of Music of Bard College for a special presentation of Kline’s masterwork at Longy, and this season we are delighted to welcome New Gallery Concert Series as a producing host. Our heartfelt thanks to Cambridge Arts Council and Harvard Square Business Association for their invaluable guidance and support!
Please Note:
Our path will take us over cobblestone areas but it has been tested by a person who uses a mobility device. In addition, we will have Monkeyhouse’s Access Doula Kit to support people’s access needs. If you have any questions about access or need other accommodations, please email
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Land Acknowledgement:
We, the producing hosts of this event, acknowledge that we gather this December 14 on the traditional and ancestral lands of the Massachusett people, the first stewards of what is now Cambridge. We recognize the enduring impact of this history and the ongoing displacement experienced by Indigenous communities throughout Massachusetts.
Event Sponsored by:
Cambridge Arts Council
Harvard Square Business Association
Longy School of Music of Bard College
Clary and Cimermanis Little Free Library
New Gallery Concert Series
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