Ice Music and The Idea of North

In a geodesic dome on Somerset House's River Terrace (an 'urban igloo'), the composer and instrumentalist Terje Isungset performs on instruments of pure ice, such as ice horns, an iceophone and ice percussion brought from the mountains of his native Norway. Using these fragile instruments, some carved from ancient glaciers, he gives three concerts a day together with the Norwegian singer Lena Nymark in this intimate setting. Each performance lasts just 30 minutes due to the nature of these highly unusual instruments. (At other times throughout the day an ethereal sound and video installation also animates the space. The Idea of North, commissioned by Opera North Projects, sees Terje Isungset join forces with Phil Slocombe from Lumen to create a distinctive experience evoking the lands far to the North. Using rare archive film and footage recorded by Mariele Neudecker for Opera North's 'Winterreise' (2003), the intricately patterned, often mysterious imagery combines with the intensely physical soundscape created purely from ice.