A massive performance piece brought together 1,000 singers along the entire length of New York’s popular greenway. The colossal choir collectively recounted what 7 o’clock means to citizens of a rapidly-changing city.

For better or worse, New York City had undergone a significant urban renewal in the past decade, especially with the development of new public spaces. The pedestrianization of Broadway and Time Square has been joined by a recent surge in waterfront park projects; that now contour vast stretches of Manhattan’s perimeter. In many ways, the precipice of this movement was the High Line, a former elevated rail track adapted into a linear park. Though inspired by the pre-existing Promenade Plantée in Paris, The High Line has become the benchmark for a wide array of public projects throughout the United States.

Opened in four phases from 2009 to 2018, the greenway rises above street level; cuts through city blocks and former warehouse buildings. Much like the industrial neighborhood it once served, the rail trail park plays host to a rich arts programme. While a densely packed gallery district below drives the art world, The High Line takes a more cultural approach. Since it first opened, public installation and performance pieces have occupied the unconventional setting. These works often challenge the park’s physical constraints and make use of its strategically-designed break-out spaces: cantilevered amphitheaters, perched balconies, terraced lawns, and wild-grass gardens; all of which blend in with a continuous hardscape that runs along Manhattan’s West Side from Gansevoort Street in Greenwich Village to 34th Street in Hells Kitchen.

Yet no project has been as ambitious as The Mile Long Opera. The formidable performance piece brought together 1,000 singers along the entire length of the greenway for six consecutive evenings (3-8 October). Created by Liz Diller—principal of Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the architecture firm that designed the park—and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang, the piece challenged the conventions of opera by bringing the format out of its traditional context and making it free to the public. As an extensive community engagement initiative, the project was developed as a partnership between The High Line and numerous cultural organisation including Peoplmovr; a communications and engagement strategy practice, centering on equity and inclusion in community development and audience engagement.

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