WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — On the frozen edge of the world, remaining a professional musician requires ingenuity, grit and a school-age plastic instrument guaranteed not to freeze to your fingers or face.
Natalie Payne is a New Zealand Navy horn player who has been among 21 personnel stationed in Antarctica since October. There, her melodies float across the frozen Ross Sea from perhaps the most remote training room on Earth.
“It’s beautiful and very inspiring,” Payne told The Associated Press. “I sit by the window, mind my own business and turn on music in my free time, which doesn’t happen very often.”
An unlikely journey onto the ice
The story of how she arrived in Antarctica is unlikely. Payne grew up in the hot, dry climate of Adelaide, Australia, where she dreamed of visiting the frozen continent as a scientist.
Instead, she studied music at university, putting Antarctica out of her mind. However, years later, as a musician in the New Zealand Navy, Payne learned that the country's military personnel were stationed in Antarctica to support the work of scientists.
When she asked, her instructor said that any soldier could receive one of the coveted assignments.
“My eyes lit up and I thought, 'What? Even a musician? – said Payne. “He was like, hell yeah, why not?”
The most remote training room on Earth
Her dream was reborn, but it was not easy to achieve. Four years of unsuccessful applications passed before Payne received a position as a telecom operator.
It's labor-intensive work, requiring six-day breaks that leave little time for music. Payne monitors radio, telephone, email and other communications at the New Zealand mission at Scott Base, sometimes speaking to people on the ice who have not heard other voices for weeks.
Payne squeezes weights and mouth exercises into any window she can find, doing her best to avoid disturbing others on her 24-hour shift. This means they must leave the main base and move to a hut built in 1957 under the direction of explorer Sir Edmund Hillary, when New Zealand established its presence in Antarctica.
As she plays by the window, watching the seals on the ice, Payne discovers that new musical motives arise within her.
“There's so much beauty out there and it's not tame, it's the wild, untamed beauty of the land around you and the animals,” she said. “It’s just so overwhelming, spiritually, emotionally and sometimes physically.”
Hostile climate encourages creativity
Her practical dilemmas involved finding an instrument suitable for Antarctica—something durable, lighter than a brass horn and less likely to freeze to her hands. The winner, named jHorn, is not elegant.
“It was designed as a beginner wind instrument for children,” Payne said. “So it was a super compact, super lightweight plastic that was very durable and didn’t require nearly as much maintenance.”
The New Zealand Navy has no record of another military musician being sent to Antarctica, so Payne, who will be there until March, could be the first. Her presence pleased Scott Bays, and she provided live music for ceremonies such as flag changings instead of the usual tunes from a speaker.
“I had to wear double-layer ski gloves with hand warmers inside to hold the tube, but my fingers were still freezing,” she said. However, Payne is likely one of the few musicians to perform a solo Antarctic concert in temperatures of minus 21 degrees Celsius (minus 6 Fahrenheit).
She said countries' collective efforts to work together on frozen content have a familiar theme. It reminded her of music.
“Music is a universal language and it reminds us that we are all connected,” she said. “It brings that connection back home to the land and also to the people you are with.”
