Walk the streets of Old City with UnSilent Night: A Music Parade

The Old City streets will be alive with the sound of 1000 boomboxes this evening as UnSilent Night: A Music Parade returns to Philadelphia for the tenth straight year.  Presented by Hidden City and co-sponsored by Trust and the Old City District, UnSilent Night is a “sound sculpture” performance piece by composer Phil Kline where the audience becomes the performer.

Kline wrote “Unsilent Night” specifically to be heard outdoors in the month of December, and takes the form of a street promenade. Everyone who attends will be given one of four tracks of music in the form of a cassette, CD, or Mp3. Together, all four tracks comprise “Unsilent Night.” Carrying boomboxes, or any mobile device that can amplify the music, everyone will simultaneously begin playing the piece. The four different parts of the composition play together as the parade moves through the neighborhood’s intimate streets helping to create the piece’s spectral sound.

The event is free and begins at the northeast corner of 3rd and Arch streets at 6:30 p.m.  More information about UnSilent Night can be found here.  Below, watch a video of the parade as it moves through New York City.