28 years of Unsilent Night and making 'beautiful music in the street'

This past Sunday evening, composer Phil Kline hosted the 28th annual holiday presentation of Unsilent Night, in which Boombox-toting participants travel from Washington Square Park to Tompkins Square Park to pre-selected musical accompaniment.

Residents from more than 40 cities — in the United States and Europe — now take part in their own harmonious holiday stroll during the month of December, culminating with the event in Manhattan.

EVG regular Dan Efram, who shared these photos, asked Kline about the the legacy of Unsilent Night.


[Kline in Tompkins Square Park]

"It was always meant to be a party, and I think for me, writing it was like giving a gift to friends. Like, here's something we can do together for free in this city that might help us escape the madness for a little while," Kline said. "I think it's kept going because many people feel that way, and need that gift too. The way it has spread around the world, largely by word-of-mouth and internet, is something of a shock, but here we are. The madness isn't going away anytime soon and we need to get together and make beautiful music in the street."

The 27th annual Unsilent Night is tomorrow (Sunday!)

[Photo in Tompkins Square Park via Instagram]

Via the official website:

Composer Phil Kline will lead a massive chorus of boomboxes from the West Village to the East Village in the 27th annual holiday presentation of UNSILENT NIGHT. People gather at the arch in Washington Square Park, and less than an hour and mile later, end up in Tompkins Square Park.

Kline will hand out a limited number of vintage boomboxes from his collection—and cassettes for those who bring their own. The public is strongly encouraged to bring their own boomboxes or sound-blasters, and to pre-download the track. Find out more about how to participate and download the tracks at this link.

Participants will meet at 5:45 p.m. in Washington Square Park ... the approximate end time is 6:45 p.m. in Tompkins Square Park.

The 26th annual Unsilent Night returns on Dec. 17

[Photo in Tompkins Square Park via Instagram]

Via the official website:

Composer Phil Kline will lead a massive chorus of boomboxes from the West Village to the East Village in the 26th annual holiday presentation of Unsilent Night. People gather at the arch in Washington Square Park, and less than an hour and mile later, end up in Tompkins Square Park.

Phil Kline will hand out a limited number of vintage boomboxes from his collection — and cassettes and CDs for those who bring their own. The public is strongly encouraged to bring their own boomboxes or sound-blasters, and to pre-download the track. Find out more about how to participate and download the tracks.

Participants will meet at 5:45 p.m. in Washington Square Park ... the approximate end time is 6:45 p.m. in Tompkins Square Park.

The 23rd annual Unsilent Night returns tomorrow

[Image via]

Per the official website:

Composer Phil Kline will lead a massive chorus of boomboxes from the West Village to the East Village in the 23rd annual holiday presentation of UNSILENT NIGHT. People gather at the arch in Washington Square Park, and less than an hour and mile later, end up in Tompkins Square Park.

Phil Kline will hand out a limited number of vintage boomboxes from his collection — and cassettes and CD’s for those who bring their own. The public is strongly encouraged to bring their own boom boxes ... and to pre-download the track. Find out more about how to participate and download the tracks here.

Enjoy an 'Unsilent Night' Saturday

[A scene from 2010 via Bobby Williams]

The 22nd annual Unsilent Night returns tomorrow … here are the details via the official event site:

This Saturday, in Washington Square Park, you have an opportunity to dust off your own pre-digital music players and join the world’s biggest boombox parade conceived by composer Phil Kline. Kline will lead a musical chorus of boomboxes and sound-blasters through the streets of Manhattan to Tompkins Square Park all playing an arrangement of the holiday classic Silent Night

The parade begins at 7 p.m.; meet in Washington Square Park at 6:45. Find more info here.

Previously.

An Unsilent Night in Tompkins Square Park

Previously.

Photo by Shawn Chittle.

Unsilent Night for a bad Santa kind of day in the East Village

[Unsilent Night in 2010 by Bobby Williams]

In case that you are looking for a group activity Saturday night in the East Village that doesn't involve dressing like Santa, acting like a jackass, buying Jäger bombs (and demanding that the bartender sets up a Jäger-train), terrorizing people out running errands, yelling for your friends who left a few minutes earlier and are already at next bar, then you're in luck...

It's time for the annual Unsilent Night, the boombox caroling walk... Composer Phil Kline's holiday tradition got its start in 1992... meeting place is 7 at the Arch at Washington Square Park... and the group makes its way over to Tompkins Square Park.

Oh, and what if the Santas come across the carolers...? Unsilent Night has asked nicely...

@santacon And please don't fuck with Unsilent Night! Enjoy it as it passes by ….

— Unsilent Night (@UnsilentTweet) December 13, 2012

Tonight at Unsilent Night

Ending the parade in Tompkins Square Park... by Bobby Williams...

Unsilent Night tonight — and now with an app

[Unsilent Night last year by Bobby Williams]

Time for the annual Unsilent Night, the boombox caroling walk... Composer Phil Kline's holiday tradition got its start in 1992... meeting place is 7 at the Arch at Washington Square Park... and the group makes its way over to Tompkins Square Park.

The official website is here. The Times has a piece on the new Unsilent Night app here. Still, long live the boombox.

Unsilence is golden

Many thanks to Bobby Williams for sending along some photos from Tompkins Square Park from Phil Kline's "Unsilent Night" this evening....

O Holy 'Unsilent Night'

The Wall Street Journal writes today about one of the cooler traditions around... Phil Kline's "Unsilent Night," now in its 18th year... happens tomorrow night... Here's the Journal:

The premise is simple: On Saturday at 7 p.m., people of all kinds will gather in Washington Square Park, and everybody with the means to do so will press play on a tape or CD or MP3 of music composed by Mr. Kline for the occasion. Then the whole mass will walk — more than a little majestically— to Tompkins Square Park, where the affair comes to a gentle end 45 minutes later. The music is wordless, made up mostly of what sounds like bells and chimes swirled together into something communal. The effect of it moving down city streets is mesmerizing.

"It's an overwhelming physical experience," said Luc Sante, author of the fabled book of New York lore, "Low Life," and a friend of Mr. Kline's. "Listening to it echo back and forth and ripple through the crowd — it's a collective activity, like being in a choir without singing."

Find all the details at the official site.

Image via.

Unsilent Night 2008

Last Saturday, composer Phil Kline did his latest "outdoor ambient music piece" ... New York magazine's Jonah Green was there for the Unsilent Night trip from Washington Square Park to Tompkins Square Park: