High in the Italian Alps, music can be heard echoing off walls of stone. Those sounds, however, aren’t made by traditional instruments, but by ones made out of a rather unlikely material: ice. This is the home of the ice orchestra.
Artist Tim Linhart started making ice sculptures at the ski resort▼ in his hometown in New Mexico. He worked on his art for 16 years. One day, he decided to try and make an ice violin and was amazed at the sound it produced.
Since then, Linhart has perfected his art. At the Passo Paradiso sports station in Italy, he makes violas, drum sets, xylophones, a double bass, and even a huge percussion pipe instrument out of ice. Some of the instruments take months to complete. When finished, the instruments are played by professional musicians in a 200-seat igloo theater. The more the instruments are played, the bigger the sound gets. In the end, though, they are due to melt. However, as soon as the next winter rolls around, Linhart is ready to make his amazing frozen creations all over again. |
