This musician is livestreaming a concert from an igloo with instruments made of ice
'It's nature that decides everything with ice music,' says Norway's Terje Isungset
Ice is Terje Isungset's instrument of choice, and nature is his boss.
For years, the Norwegian artist and composer has been crafting and playing instruments entirely out of ice.
Usually at this time of year, he would be preparing for his annual Ice Music Festival. But because of the pandemic, he had to cancel the event. Instead, this weekend he is live-streaming an all-ice concert from inside an igloo in Norway.
"It's been quite a lot of preparations. First of all, we have to make an igloo. And second, we have to harvest ice from the lake," Isungset told As It Happens host Carol Off.
"It's all about ice and pure nature."
Nature, he said, is the key ingredient. Not all ice is created equal.
"If you have factory ice, I can guarantee you there will be no sound," he said. "You don't get it at the grocery store."
Instead, Isungset harnesses the ice for his instruments from frozen lakes, carving it first with a saw, and then fine tuning it with a knife until it makes the perfect pitch he's looking for.
He says there's a "secret lake" near his home in Bergen, Norway, that delivers top-notch ice material for ice instrument making.
"I will not tell you where it is," he said.
Isungset has travelled to Canada to perform, and says there's some terrific frozen lakes here too — especially outside Ottawa, near Whitehorse, and far north in Iqaluit.
"But also, it will be different from year to year. So if I come back next year, the ice might sound different," he said. "It's nature that decides everything with ice music, and nature is the boss."
Even when he's completed his instruments, they still keep changing, as ice is wont to do.
"The tuning will change with time or with temperature change," he said. "It takes some time to look over these instruments. It is some logistics to solve."
Isungset creates all sorts of instruments out of ice — percussion instruments, stringed instruments, and totally new inventions.
He's even been known to blow on an ice horn.
"If it's really cold, you have to be very careful with your lips because for sure, you don't want to get frostbite," he said. "It's tricky."
Despite the hard work and sometimes unpredictable nature of his art, Isungset says he trusts his medium of choice to deliver the beautiful and unique sounds his audience has come to expect.
"Human beings, we are only guests on the Earth for a short while," he said. "So I have to trust nature."
Isungset's livestreamed concert takes place Sunday at 5:30 p.m. Norweigian time (11:30 a.m. ET), and will feature a musical performance from Isungset, frozen lake dancing by Embla Skogedal Bergerud, and ice art creation by Gunnveig Nerol. Tickets are available from Ticketmaster.
Written by Sheena Goodyear. Interview produced by John McGill.
