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, in collaboration with filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, a colleague from their band The Del-Byzanteens. Kline has also written music for dance and ballet, such as his work for the Birmingham Royal Ballet. Other than these projects, Kline's work includes continuing commissions from Bang on a Can, American Opera Projects, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, WNYC, the New York State Council on the Arts, Ethel and Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, Jennifer Koh, Muzik3, the La Jolla Symphony Orchestra, the St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble, and for the Kotschmar Memorial Organ in Portland, Maine. Furthermore, his works have had performances venues across the world including Lincoln Center, the Barbican Centre, the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Royal Conservatory of Music of Toronto, The Whitney Museum, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Kimmel Center, Trinity Church, Symphony Space, National Sawdust, The Kitchen, and the Badlands National Park. Critical reception Throughout his career, Phil Kline's music has been respected for its experimental nature. The New York Times describes it as having "the tonal richness of Barber, the austerity of Stravinsky and the harmonic piquancy of Ligeti," and New York magazine has said that Kline "long ago declared independence from any musical Establishment." Kline's Unsilent Night has been called "a magical musical parade," “a tribute to the joy of caroling" (The Village Voice), and "an ethereal sound sculpture" (The Guardian); it's been noted for the "benign sense of wonder it instilled in observers" (San Francisco Chronicle). Furthermore,