Journey to Antarctica
Journey to Antarctica: The Story
At the southern tip of King George Island, an island at the northern end of the Antarctic peninsula, there are four scientific research stations from four different countries: a Chilean research station as well as Chinese, Russian, and Uruguayan research stations. In cooperation with the Chilean Antarctic Institute and DAP airlines, on February 11, 2014, I performed a special concert inside the Chilean research station for scientists from all four research stations.
At the time of this recording, Antarctica is governed by terms of a treaty, signed by 54 countries which states “[it is] in the interests of all mankind that Antarctica shall continue forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not become the scene or object of international discord.” In the context of my world concert tour, The 88 Concert Tour, Antarctica is a powerful symbol of peace: land that is not a country, where the world’s nations agreed to cooperate for research and exploration.
Part of this album is a recording of music representing the four countries whose scientists were present. Additionally, I commissioned composer Christina Courtin to compose a work so that I could give its world premier performance in Antarctica during this concert. This work, Ode to Antarctica is the only known piano work to have this distinction. Two of my own compositions are added on this album They are dedicated to two individuals whose precious help and assistance was indispensable in realizing this unusual concert: First, Alejo Contreras, a legend in his own right as the 25th person in history and the first Chilean to walk to the south pole, and secondly Luis Godoy, a doctor who is also the Honorary Consular of Hungary in Punta Arenas Chile, who hosted me and also presented me, as a pianist, in a concert hosted by the Honorary Consulate of Hungary at the Union Club of Punta Arenas after my return from Antarctica. It’s meaningful to speak of a “return” from Antarctica as the place is so unusual. However, my stay was just five hours.
The other works on the album are integral to my journey to Antarctica.
When I arrived in Punta Arenas at the southern tip of Chile, with the idea to arrange this concert in Antarctica, I arrived with two pieces of music which would be instrumental in inspiring support for the concert. The first of these works is Franz Liszt’s epic piano sonata in B Minor, and the other is a short prelude written by a 11 year old Afghan pianist in Kabul, Afghanistan.
A vignette to share the relevance of this prelude.
When approaching DAP Airlines, I shared the following story with his Secretary:
Before 2001, music was illegal in Afghanistan. After the revocation of the Taliban regime in 2001, there was a cultural vacuum as many instruments had been destroyed and most artists had left the country. In 2008, a man named Ahmad Sarmast established a new school of music called the National Institute of Music of Afghanistan. When I visited this school in 2009 and 2010, I met Elham, a young 13-year-old pianist. During one of our lessons he told me, "I would like to learn to compose." I responded, "The spelling of your name is E L H A M. For each letter there is a note on the piano. We can write your name on the piano ... "E L H A M is like this. The musical alphabet is A, B, C, D, E, F, G. After G, we can proceed as follows: H is A, I is B, J is C etc. We wrote down the short melody made with the letters of his name and I gave Elham some composition exercises. I thought it would take him a week to finish this first short composition. But the very next day, Elham had finished the composition! I was so inspired I decided to perform Elham’s composition and share this story during my concerts. When I performed his piece in Dubai in 2013, the host of the concert asked how she could help Elham and she ended up buying him a piano and shipping it to his home in Kabul.
After hearing this story, the Secretary was so inspired as well, she promised to try and arrange a meeting with the CEO of this airline so I could propose this concert in Antarctica. She did arrange the meeting and the CEO did indeed agree to support the event by granting me a seat on the next flight to King George Island.
In parallel with my efforts with DAP airline, Alejo Contreras had introduced me to the director of the Cultural Department who had in-turn arranged for me to perform a concert at the University of Magallanes. There, after the concert which included a performance of Liszt’s sonata, I was approached by Dr. Luis Godoy who introduced himself to me as the Honorary Consular of Hungary in Punta Arenas. He would later help me to promote the Antarctica concert in the local media while guiding me in navigating INACH, the Antarctic Chilean Institute. Liszt’s epic piano sonata, one of the great masterpieces of the piano repertoire, was among the works I performed at the Union Club, the aforementioned concert hosted by Dr. Godoy and the Honorary Consulate of Hungary. Among many remarkable attributes of this piano sonata, Liszt’s economy of means is particularly striking. His ability to create wide varieties of seemingly unrelated moods, wide varieties of texture, amidst a sheer quantity of music that is, in fact, all based on just 4 primary musical motifs. Some occurrences of a musical motive may sound diabolical and jarring and later, the same musical material may sound ethereal and soothing. The unexpected twists and turns; the connections between seemingly disparate elements reflected well the story of my Journey to Antarctica. Indeed, I could not have anticipated that Franz Liszt and the story of Elham from Kabul, Afghanistan would unlock the doors to this seventh and most elusive continent.
