The Coldest Concert

JIM MCMAHON

How many musical instruments can you play? Terje Isungset (TAHR-yeh EE-soong-set) plays more than 20! He is a Norwegian musician who also writes his own jazzy songs. Every winter, he invites other musicians to perform with him in a four-day festival. This year, hundreds of people will gather in the chilly northern town of Finse, Norway, to hear the show.

But the instruments aren’t made from wood or metal like most instruments are. Instead, everything the musicians play—as well as the stage they play on—is almost entirely carved from ice!

Musicians and professional ice carvers work together in the freezing cold to build the ice instruments. They make everything from drums to horns to concert harps. Isungset founded the festival 13 years ago. He says the ice gives his music a unique quality. “It’s a surprisingly warm and gentle sound,” he says.

How many musical instruments can you play? Terje Isungset (TAHR-yeh EE-soong-set) plays more than 20! He is a Norwegian musician. He also writes his own jazzy songs. Every winter, he hosts a festival that lasts four days. He invites other musicians to perform with him. This year, hundreds of people will gather. They will go to a chilly town in the northern part of Norway. It’s called Finse. They will come to hear the show.

Most instruments are made of wood or metal. But instruments at the festival are made almost entirely of ice! So is the stage that the musicians play on.

Musicians and professional ice carvers work together. They build the ice instruments in the freezing cold. They make everything from drums and horns to concert harps.

Isungset plays drums and other percussion instruments. He made his first ice instrument 20 years ago, after playing under a frozen waterfall at a music festival. During the concert, Isungset tapped on the hanging icicles. “When I heard the sound of the ice, I fell in love with it,” he says.

Isungset decided to build his own ice instruments. He started with chimes and xylophones. Their straight parts make them fairly simple to carve. In 2006, he held the first Ice Music Festival in Norway. He invited other musicians and ice carvers to make shapes that are more complicated.

Bill Covitz is an ice carver based in Cheshire, Connecticut. He flew to Norway for the first festival and has returned almost every year since. Over the years, he’s carved a tiny kazoo, a curvy guitar, and even a horn that is six feet long!

Isungset founded the festival 13 years ago. He says the ice gives his music a unique quality. “It sounds warm and gentle,” he says.

Isungset plays drums. He also plays other percussion instruments. He made his first ice instrument 20 years ago. He did this after playing under a frozen waterfall. It was at a music festival. Isungset tapped on hanging icicles during a concert. “I fell in love with the sound of ice,” he says.

Isungset decided to build his own ice instruments. He started with chimes and xylophones. They have straight parts. It makes them fairly simple to carve. In 2006, he held the first Ice Music Festival in Norway. He invited other musicians and ice carvers. They made instruments with more complicated shapes.

Bill Covitz is an ice carver based in Cheshire, Connecticut. He flew to Norway for the first festival. He has returned almost every year since. Over the years, he’s carved many things. They include a tiny kazoo and a curvy guitar. He even carved a horn that is six feet long!

It takes a lot of work to put on an ice concert. Preparations for the festival begin days before the performances start. Workers cut giant blocks of ice from frozen lakes surrounding Finse. Each block weighs about 3,500 pounds!

After a truck drops off the ice blocks, people inspect them. Imperfections like air bubbles can affect the sound of the ice. The carvers set aside the clearest pieces to make instruments. The rest become benches, decorations, and instrument stands.

Carving each ice instrument takes hours. Covitz first uses a chain saw to cut the rough shape. Smaller tools, like chisels, help him carve finer details. To hollow out a horn, Covitz slices a piece of ice down the middle. Then he carves a groove in each half. Finally, he puts the halves back together and sprays them with water. This freezes them in place.

It takes a lot of work to put on an ice concert. People begin preparing days before the performances start. Workers cut giant blocks of ice. They come from frozen lakes surrounding Finse. Each block weighs about 3,500 pounds!

A truck drops off the ice blocks. Then people inspect them. Air bubbles in the ice are imperfections. They can affect the sound of the ice. The carvers use the clearest pieces to make instruments. The rest become benches, decorations, and instrument stands.

Carving each ice instrument takes hours. Covitz first uses a chain saw. He cuts the rough shape. Then he uses smaller tools like chisels. They help him carve finer details. To hollow out a horn, Covitz slices a piece of ice down the middle. Then he carves a groove in each half. Finally, he puts the halves back together. Then he sprays them with water. The halves become frozen in place.

An ice music concert is a chilling experience. The musicians perform at night, when temperatures in Finse can drop to 15°F below zero! The cold air makes the music better, says Covitz. “If it’s cold, then the instruments sing beautifully,” he says.

If an ice instrument gets too warm, it starts to melt. That changes the instrument’s shape and makes the sound duller. This can happen during performances, like when a musician’s warm breath heats up a horn.

Isungset says that’s part of what keeps ice music interesting. “It’s nice that things sound different,” he says. “My favorite thing is when the audience gets surprised.”

An ice music concert is a chilling experience. The musicians perform at night. That’s when temperatures in Finse can drop. They can be as low as 15°F below zero! The cold air makes the music better, says Covitz. “The instruments sing beautifully,” he says.

Ice instruments start to melt if it gets too warm. That changes the instrument’s shape. It makes the sound duller. This can happen during performances. One example is when a musician’s warm breath heats up a horn.

But that’s part of what keeps ice music interesting. “It’s nice that things sound different,” he says. “My favorite thing is when the audience gets surprised.”

Ice blocks are 6 1/2 feet long when they arrive at the festival. Model this mixed number on a separate sheet of paper.

An ice carver wants to cut the base of an ice xylophone. He needs a piece 3 feet long. How long is the ice block after he cuts off this piece? Adjust your model to reflect the subtraction.

Write an equation that shows your answer from part B.

Another piece of ice is 3 5/6 feet long. The body of a guitar is about 1 2/3 feet long. A carver wants to cut the length of a guitar from the piece of ice. How much ice is left over?

Xylophone bars make different sounds depending on their size. The largest bar, which makes the lowest note, is about 1 1/6 feet long. Say another bar needs to be shorter by 1/8 foot. What is the length of that bar? Write an equation.

An ice carver wants to decorate the stage with a sculpture that will take 2 3/5 blocks of ice. She finds 1 1/2 spare blocks behind the stage. How much more ice does she need?