NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — New York composer Phil Kline returns to North Adams, with his walking symphony 'Unsilent Night' as part of First Fridays North Adams on Friday, Dec. 1, 2023. 

 

This free, family-friendly, community event begins promptly at 6 p.m. at Martin Puryear's Big Bling Installation at 4 Marshall St., weaves through downtown, and ends at Hotel Downstreet. http://northadams.unsilentnight.com/

 

Community members of all ages are invited to gather at the Big Bling starting at 5:30 p.m. and encouraged to dress for the weather and wear comfortable shoes, bring a flashlight or lantern, and think creatively about sound amplification: using boomboxes, phones, Bluetooth speakers, or other creative amplified sound devices Download the music tracks in advance online (www.unsilentnight.com/download) or via the Unsilent Night app.

 

A limited number of Kline's vintage boomboxes and cassette tapes will be available for use on a first-come, first-served basis. 

 

Now in its 31st year, 'Unsilent Night' was first performed in New York's Greenwich Village as a one-time 45-minute composition. Since then, it has grown into an annual event performed in communities around the world during the winter holiday season. A studio recording, with Bang on a Can, was made in 2001 and is available through Cantaloupe Music.

 

First produced in North Adams in 2014, Unsilent Night has become an addition to the Northern Berkshire winter event calendar.

 

"Each year we stroll a different route in the Northern Berkshires with familiar and new faces joining in the fun," said producer Isabelle Holmes. "We've paraded through neighborhoods, down main streets and side streets, and through businesses." The event has grown to over 80 participants and the musical parade gets the attention of those along the route with honks from passing cars, people coming out of their homes to listen, and others joining in along the way.