Phil Kline

Phil Kline (born 1953) is an American composer, sound artist, and performer most recognized for his '' Unsilent Night'' (1992) and ''Zippo Songs'' (2004). Beginning as a guitarist and singer in the New York City art punk scene, Kline has since gained notability through his song cycles and theatrical works, musical performance art pieces, work with Bang on a Can, and WQXR's online new-music radio show. With five studio albums to date, a majority of his compositional work can be found on Cantaloupe Music.

Education and early works

Kline was born in 1953 and grew up in Akron, Ohio. After moving to New York City to pursue a degree in English literature from Columbia University and graduated in 1975, he attended Mannes College of Music. In the late 1970s, Kline began his career as a full-time musician, and first joined the band Dark Day with Robin Crutchfield (also of the band DNA). When he left Dark Day, he co-founded the no-wave, art-punk band The Del-Byzanteens alongside filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, author Lucy Sante, and painter James Nares. After these projects, he also toured internationally and recorded with the Glenn Branca Ensemble and began assisting with video projects by Nan Goldin.

Career

As a continuation of his experimental work, Kline began creating tape-based sound installations for collections of boomboxes inspired by the work of Brian Eno, Steve Reich, and Glenn Branca. The first of these was called ''Bachman's Warbler'' (1990), which was written for harmonicas and twelve boomboxes and premiered at Bang on a Can Marathon in New York City in 1992. The concept behind these pieces later contributed to his '' Unsilent Night'' (1992), which has since brought Kline worldwide recognition.

First performed in New York City, '' Unsilent Night'' is an annual public performance piece in which anyone may participate. Every December, as part of this performance, a volunteer parade carrying boomboxes and other music players passes through Greenwich Village, presenting an ambient cacophony made of recorded bells, harps, and electronic instruments to the neighborhood. While '' Unsilent Night'' features musical references to ancient Christmas music, the piece itself and its performance are not religion-specific. Since its premiere in 1992, the '' Unsilent Night'' tradition has spread to over 116 cities around the world, mostly in the United States and Canada, but also to major cities across Europe, Oceania, Africa, and Asia.

Kline's other notable work primarily includes song cycles and opera. Kline's song cycles have historically had political themes, such as his ''Three Rumsfeld Songs'', which borrow text from the Pentagon briefings of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld following the September 11 terrorist attacks and during the War in Iraq. The source for Kline's ''Zippo Songs'' (2004), the song cycle for which he is best known, comes from US government-issued Zippo Lighters from the Vietnam War, on which some soldiers etched short sayings or poems. These sayings and poems, compiled into ''Zippo Songs'', therefore offers a lens into the social, spiritual, sexual, and emotional lives of these American Vietnam War soldiers. ''Zippo Songs'' was written for singer Theo Bleckmann, as well as for violin, percussion, and guitar. Kline's lounge-inspired, staged song cycle ''Out Cold'' (2012)''—''about the desperation of lost love''—''was also written for and performed by Bleckmann.

More recently, Kline has delved into the opera genre with his ''Tesla'', which explores the life and works of inventor Nikola Tesla

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