Since 2003, Georgia State University’s Bent Frequency ensemble has maintained a boundless enthusiasm for boundary-defying modern classical music. Now in its 21st season, the group’s experimental explorations continue unabated. Outstanding among this year’s slate of programs is “Unsilent Night,” a free public event taking place in Candler Park on Friday.
“Unsilent Night” features a soundscape created by composer and sound artist Phil Kline, and members of the public are the “performers.” Each person simultaneously plays one of four prerecorded tracks while walking through the neighborhood, blurring the line between outdoor musical event and audience-inclusive performance art.
“It’s a walking soundscape,” Bent Frequency co-director Stuart Gerber said. “The group will walk through the area with phones, boom boxes and other audio devices playing the titular piece by Phil Kline. It’s a nondenominational holiday experience.”
Credit: Asdielman, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Credit: Asdielman, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Following its 1992 premiere in New York, “Unsilent Night” quickly became a craze, with different organizations offering “performances” all over the world. This year, groups in more than 30 cities are taking part, from Berkeley in California to the Bronx in New York and from Tours, France, to Traverse City, Michigan. Kline himself will participate in the New York City event on Sunday, and comedian Mark Mobley will lead one in Athens on Dec. 20.
Bent Frequency first hosted Atlanta’s version of the event in 2003 and, after a long hiatus, brought it back in 2017. Since then, it has emerged as one of the organization’s more popular activities.
This year, participants will meet at the First Existentialist Church in Candler Park at 6:30 p.m. before trekking through the surrounding neighborhood. The event is open to all who wish to attend, musically inclined or not, and participants are encouraged to bring any portable audio device capable of playing the composition.
“The piece offers a rich electronic soundscape that includes everything from bell tones reminiscent of Dickens-era London to string and synthesizer sounds that give off a Mannheim Steamroller vibe,” Gerber said. “When the four individual tracks are played through multiple speakers, they create a captivating atmosphere perfect for a winter stroll through a historic neighborhood.”
For Gerber and his co-director, Jan Berry-Baker, the fellowship inherent in the experience underscores the community ethos at the heart of Bent Frequency.
The organization was born out of necessity as the pair sought classical works that fit their unorthodox instrumentation. Gerber was a percussionist with a penchant for classical chamber music, a medium where use of percussion is limited. Berry-Baker was a classical saxophonist, which left her with limited options since the instrument didn’t really catch on until the advent of jazz. As such, Bent Frequency became a home to the odd and eccentric outer reaches of modern classical music.
A direct line can be drawn from that inclusive vision to the annual “Unsilent Night” performance.
“‘Unsilent Night’ is an opportunity to celebrate community through music,” Berry-Baker said. “Creating community-inclusive events is central to Bent Frequency’s mission and allows us to connect even more personally with friends, family and our community at large.”
That spirit of community emerged in the evening’s logistic planning when “Unsilent Night” — originally planned to take place in Cabbagetown, where it was last year — was relocated to Candler Park at the eleventh hour.
“We discovered another contemporary music event happening (at the First Existentialist) on the same evening,” Berry-Baker explained. That event is the premiere of composer Majid Araim’s opera “Regarding Bullfrogs and Universal Power Dynamics,” which will be performed on Thursday and Friday at the historic Candler Park church.
Gerber and Berry-Baker sensed an opportunity to help support a fellow artist rather than pull focus away from his new work; they moved “Unsilent Night” to the same neighborhood. Following the 45-minute walk through the Candler Park area on Friday, “Unsilent Night” participants will return to the First Existentialist in time for the 8 p.m. opera performance (which is ticketed separately).
Bent Frequency may find purpose and direction in the avant-garde, but its foundation is in something far more traditional: togetherness and mutual support. “Unsilent Night” and the co-directors’ decision to collaborate rather than distract from Araim’s premiere underscores just that.
CONCERT PREVIEW
Bent Frequency: “Unsilent Night”
Friday. 6:30 p.m. meeting; strolling performance begins at 6:45 p.m. At 8 p.m., composer and improviser Majid Araim presents his new opera, “Regarding Bullfrogs and Universal Power Dynamics.” First Existentialist Congregation of Atlanta. 470 Candler Park Drive NE, Atlanta. unsilentnight.com.
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Jordan Owen began writing about music professionally at the age of 16 in Oxford, Mississippi. A 2006 graduate of the Berklee College of Music, he is a professional guitarist, bandleader and composer. He is currently the lead guitarist for the jazz group Other Strangers, the power metal band Axis of Empires and the melodic death/thrash metal band Century Spawn.
Credit: ArtsATL
Credit: ArtsATL
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