I started composing when I was 4 years old.
I grew up in the city called Chelyabinsk, and the city has
actually a quite sad reputation for being the most polluted city in the world.
Of course it impacted me greatly as an adult, understanding the impact of
living in such environment and what it does to all of us.
We can all talk about environment and the scientists but
what's missing in those talks is emotional connection.
Together with Enric Sala of National Geographic, we thought
of this incredible project, Arctica.
From the beginning, the idea was of a personal artistic journey to the Arctic
and how it affects a person
It's very hard to imagine it until you are actually there.
It's overwhelming, but at the same time you also feel how fragile it is.
You hear ice melting. You hear ice cracking.
So how do you turn all this experience and impressions into a
symphony?
I wanted to incorporate some unusual instruments.
Drums made of ice.
An instrument that represents air.
And drops of water, dripping from IV stand.
Inuit culture's incredibly rich, its oral tradition. That's why I felt the
libretto has to be written in the languages of the people of the Arctic.
Something that I found that unites them is the figure of a shaman: "angakkuq."
The solo piano represents "angakkuq," and the choir evokes different spirits that
help him in his journey.
Arctic as we know it is disappearing. It's melting at a tremendous rate, so the
landscape that I've seen when I travel there two years ago is already not there
in that form, and of course the hope is that by sharing it, it also brings
awareness and brings understanding that something needs to be done to protect
this wonder.