Tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. I’ll be participating in the coolest holiday music event ever. Every year, for the past 20 years, people have gathered en masse in different cities across the world to play Phil Kline’s four-part harmonic piece Unsilent Night. Wednesday evening, the Dallas group will meet downtown at the DART Akard Station with boomboxes, mini amps, cell phones, and any other device that can play the MP3s that comprise the piece. The files are randomly distributed, so that the four different parts are represented relatively evenly. We will begin the tracks in unison and stroll through downtown listening to the sounds as they bounce off brick walls, glass windows, and wind through the streets. Brian and I joined in the fun in 2010 and I’m thrilled we’re able to participate again this year. It’s a living, breathing soundscape adventure that truly must be experienced firsthand to understand. The intricate dance of the sounds harmonizing as the move through the streets is beyond my ability to adequately describe in words.

I grabbed just a very few shots when Brian and I went two years ago. Naturally, pictures do nothing to convey the wonder that is Unsilent Night. Come out and enjoy this one-of-a-kind marvel for yourself. It’s free for everyone. The music can be downloaded here. And the Dallas Facebook event page can be found here.