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WIZZ MAGAZINE
BERGEN
hen the trainsarrived,Geilo
changed forever.TuckedawaybetweenOslo
andBergenamidendless lakesandpeaks, the
tinymountain townhad longbeenhard to
reach.Then in1907 the railway station
openedand the tourists started toarrive (now
less that threehours fromBergen), attractedby
theprospectof fresh snow, big skiesandclean
mountainair.Newhotelsopened, andbefore
long,Norway’sfirstproper ski resortwasborn.
But as timepassed, bigger, slicker ski
resortsopenedacross thecountryandGeilo
couldno longer claim tobeunique.Well, not
until 1999,whena localmusicianbegana
boldexperiment.His idea?Tomakemusical
instrumentsout of ice.
“When Iheard the sound for thefirst time
I found it extremelybeautiful,” saysTerje
Isungset.Anexperiencedpercussionist, he
grewup inGeiloandnowperformshisoddly
haunting icemusicat venuesaround theglobe.
“I thought,whynotmakea festivalwhere
everyonehas todealwith iceand snow?”he
says. “Ameetingpoint forpeoplewhowant to
workcreatively, and see iceasa resource.”
Adecadeon from its inception, the IceMusic
Festival (
icemusicfestival.no
) that Isungset
founded isgearingup for itsbiggestyearyet.
From5–8February2015,musicians from
around theworldwill join the festival–still
hosted inGeilo– fora four-daycelebrationof
iceandmusic.
Withopen-airconcerts, an ice-carving
demonstrationanda seminarabout the
evolutionofArctic ice, organisersarehoping to
attract tourists to the town fromas farafieldas
AustraliaandCanada.New instrumentswill be
created.Andnew soundswill bediscovered.
Buthowdoyouorganiseamusic festival
when the instruments, stagesand seatsareall
madeoutof frozenwater?Tofindout,we speak
to someof thepeople involved.
LEFT:
HARPS, HORNS AND
CELLOS ARE ALLMADE
FROM ICE – EXCEPT FOR
THE STRINGS, OFCOURSE
