Every February, hundreds of people make their way to the frigid town of Finse, Norway. There, they brave temperatures far below freezing to attend a series of special outdoor concerts. Every instrument the musicians play—and even the stage they play on—is made almost entirely of ice!

This event is called the Ice Music Festival. Musicians and artists work together to carve everything from horns to guitars. Festival founder Terje Isungset (TAHR-yeh EE-soong-set) built his first ice instrument 20 years ago. “When I heard the sound of ice, I fell in love with it,” he says. 

An ice concert is a chilly experience. Musicians perform at night, when the temperature drops as low as -26°C (-15°F). The cold makes the music better, says Covitz. “The instruments sing beautifully,” he says.

Warmer air can cause the ice to soften. If an instrument gets too warm, parts of it will start to melt into liquid. That can dull the sound. This sometimes happens during performances, when a musician’s breath heats up a horn. But Isungset thinks that keeps ice music interesting. “My favorite thing is when the audience gets surprised.”