Oamaru Concerto Commemorates Scott of the Antarctic

Oamaru Concerto Commemorates Scott of the Antarctic

In a special event for the Steampunk NZ festival, Australian ensemble Co.sonance commemorate one of the great tragedies of the Victorian period of Exploration - the race to be the first to the South Pole and the subsequent death of Robert Falcon Scott and his men. ‘The Ice Suite’ is a non-narrative music and image concerto experience of Scott’s doomed exploration of the Antarctic, that will be given two special performances at the Inkbox Theatre in Oamaru on May 30th .

Captain Robert Falcon Scott led the ill-fated Terra Nova expedition, 1910–13 which reached the South Pole on 17 January 1912, only to find that they had been beaten by Roald Amundsen's Norwegian expedition. On their return journey, Scott and his four comrades all perished from a combination of exhaustion, starvation and extreme cold.

As part of the Antarctic Exploration Centenary celebrations, multimedia music ensemble

co.sonance honoured the death of Scott and his men on March 29th 2012 at the MONA Gallery with the world premiere of ‘The Ice Suite’, exactly 100 years after Scott’s death.

Scott, exhausted, frostbitten and starving, made his last entry in his diary and died propped against his tent pole, trapped by wild blizzards and dispirited by ill-fortune that prevented his marching the 18kms to the next supply depot. A search party discovered the tent with Scott and his companions 8 months later. After collecting records and personal effects, the search party covered the tent with snow and ice and marked it with a cross.

The Byrd Polar Research Institute reported in 1998 that Scott's body had been tracked by satellite and calculations on glacial drift concluded that Scott had finally made it to the life saving depot he had tried so desperately to reach. This was composer Karena Wynn-Moylan’s inspiration for the 'The Ice Suite', a 58 minute experiential concerto. The music and visuals fragment the Scott narrative into moments of imagery and passages of words and music.

Each member of Co.sonance has a busy individual creative career, consequently the concerto has been performed rarely since its debut.

But the ensemble could not resist the combination of the Steampunk Festival, Oamaru’s Victoriana precinct, and the strong connection between the NZ South Island’s east coast and the Scott expedition.

Join co.sonance, as they take you on the last perilous journey across the ice to the South Pole. The Ice Suite is a deeply moving and stunning walk on the wilder side of life and an insight into the character of the men who dared to brave the most extreme places on the earth – not to be missed!

Two performances only – 4pm and 6pm Saturday May 30th Inkbox Theatre Oamaru. Bookings essential from ticketdirect.co.nz

ENDS

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