Unsilent Night 2009

Unless I get caught in the squeeze play of a presentation and two new books’ delivery by Midland from the printer, I intend to participate in Unsilent Night’s 2009 performance parade in downtown Fredericton. I walked in last year’s performance. This year, my post-fire purchased new portable CD+cassette player is on the living room desk with the necessary C-cell batteries.

Gallery Connexion, Motion Ensemble and NBCCD present

Unsilent Night

an open procession for an unlimited number of boomboxes
by New York composer Phil Kline

FREE

Thursday, December 17 2009 meet at 3:30 sharp
at The Gallery of New Brunswick College of Craft and Design
457 Queen Street, Fredericton

A beautiful, mobile piece of ambient public art, UNSILENT NIGHT can be compared to a holiday caroling party—except that participants don’t sing. Instead, each carries an ordinary boombox playing a separate cassette or CD that becomes part of the piece.

In effect, the individual participants become single elements in a huge, moving sound system. Performed within the confines of city streets, Unsilent Night reverberates off the cars and buildings, resulting in a magnificent, drifting cloud of shimmering, echoing sound. The 43-minute piece includes sounds of chiming bells, choral voices and various electronic effects. (Kline cites Brian Eno and Charles Ives among his influences.) Kline has performed Unsilent Night in New York City every year since 1992. In San Francisco in 2006, some 400 people took part.

INFO
http://www.unsilentnight.com/
http://www.motionensemble.com

Bring your boombox!
Bring batteries!
Bring your iPod and speakers!
Dress for the weather!

CDs and cassettes will be provided
OR
To find out how to get free downloads, contact info@motionensemble.com

“Phil Kline’s boom box-chorale parade has become a bona fide holiday tradition. His luminous, shimmering wash of bell tones is one of the loveliest communal new-music experiences you’ll ever hear and it's never the same twice" Time Out New York

t: grey
loc: broken mapp desk
temp: -1°C
sound: The Flaming Lips Transmissions from the Satellite Heart