All is acoustic, all is bright: Philly celebrates ‘Unsilent Night’

On Dec. 18, a classically chilly Sunday December night, a group of people start on a 45-minute walk through Center City as part of a mobile soundscape installation. This is Unsilent Night, an annual event that takes place in over 100 cities around the world, after starting in New York’s Greenwich Village in 1992. Philadelphia has been participating for years.

The group begins in Rittenhouse Square with about 30 people who all press “play” on their devices at the same time. The participants have downloaded an app, which would play one of four tracks by ambient artist Phil Kline. Different tracks play simultaneously, creating harmonies and dissonances, which change depending on how people move. The music emanates from phones and Bluetooth speakers strapped to their backpacks. The participants share a few things in common, like a preference for hiking books. There are festive hats in green and red.

“This has big Bjork Utopia energy,” said one participant.

“What’s cool is you’re part of the show,” said Michele Kelly, co-artistic director of Relâche, the group that organizes the event. “It’s immersive. It’s just fun to be in a crowd.” When you’re playing the music, it feels like you’re inside the sound, Kelly said.

Unlike carolers loudly serenading, this group isn’t immediately legible as a unified performance. “When people used boom boxes (as was done more frequently used in years past), it was a spectacle to see them carry those,” Kelly said.

This parade isn’t overtly seasonal, but Kline’s music is full of electronic bells that impart a festive reverence. Stereophile has described the music as “an avant-garde Christmas record.” Overall, it takes a minute to notice that something intentional is happening.

One passerby — striding through Rittenhouse in a pale pink coat — is on her phone dealing with a personal drama, uninterrupted by the group playing ambient recordings. Another bystander, wrapped in a shearling jacket, pulls me aside to ask what was going on. “That’s so cute,” he said, when I explain. “I love it! It’s like a public installation!”

Many of the Unsilent Night participants are passionate about music.

One pair, Alex and her son Emmett, are there because Emmett’s flute teacher is one of the organizers. It’s a first Unsilent Night journey for both.

“We’re pleasantly surprised,” Emmett said. “I like how there are different parts, and you hear them ebbing and flowing, and not all of them are synced up,” said Alex. “This genre of music is something we both listen to,” Emmett added, “electronic ambient, with synthesizers everywhere.”

From Rittenhouse, the procession journeys down Walnut, down 16th, up Locust, and then down more residential blocks. The acoustics change dramatically depending on the buildings around. It’s a small tinkle on the busy streets, then loud and resonant on smaller blocks. “On streets that aren’t as big, you can really hear it,” said Kelly.

By the end of their journey, the group is down to about 15 people. Though the crowd is notably smaller than in previous years, people still described it as “magical,” especially when everyone’s pieces fade out. At the very end, someone’s music is still playing loudly. “Oops,” she said, “I had to restart in the middle!”

Carol, who is retired, has been coming to Unsilent Night for several years. She takes lots of walks through the city, she said, but never plays music unless it’s this performance. She doesn’t wear headphones, as a rule, so she can hear the city. “If you wore headphones,” she said, “you’d miss this.”