Voices from the Frozen World

What does Antarctica sound like?

What happens when music meets a place that very few of us will ever see?

Can a human voice capture ice, distance, and the fragile life that exists at the edge of the world?

Voices from the Frozen World brings together music and science to explore one of the most remote and extraordinary environments on Earth.

Soprano Naomi Rogers and pianist Patrick Hemmerlé will perform works inspired by the Antarctic landscape and its histories, including a UK premiere and a world premiere:

• Cumha an Nàdair, a lament for Nature, by Alessandro Cortello
• A Tale of Light and Fear, again by Alessandro, on a poem by Jennifer Freer about the Southern Ocean ecosystem
• In Antarctica, by Edward Nesbit, a song cycle based on the diaries of Scott’s expedition.

Alongside the music, marine ecologist Jennifer Freer will offer insight into the science behind these works, from the unique Antarctic ecosystem that inspired them to the environmental challenges it now faces.

Rather than simply depicting a distant place, this programme invites a different kind of listening, one shaped as much by science as by sound.

A concert, and a conversation about a world that is both remote and deeply connected to our own.

This event is organised with the support of the Wong family.

Naomi Rogers is a soprano from Suffolk with a Master of Music in Performance degree and a Bachelor of Music degree from the Royal Northern College of Music. She has worked with many of the UK's top opera platforms, such as Opera Holland Park, Clonter Opera, BBC1, Opera North, Buxton Opera, and Northern Opera Group.
Naomi made her debut with Opera Holland Park in the UK premiere of Adamo's Little Women and performed the roles of Papagena and Gretel at the Edinburgh International Festival. She regularly works with Clonter Opera House, where her performances include Queen Titania in Puck's Adventure and soprano soloist in their opera gala. A highlight of last season was singing Papagena and First Lady in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte with Clonter Opera, fulfilling one of her dream roles. Naomi also collaborated with Opera Holland Park and English National Ballet in Stravinsky’s Les Noces at Sadler's Wells.
Recently, Naomi premiered Gary Lloyd's contemporary opera Disunited Jukebox, which toured across Northern England and performed at Glasgow’s Armadillo Stadium. She regularly performs internationally as a guest singer on cruise liners with The Little Opera Company. As a regular concert performer, Naomi’s highlights are performing as guest opera singer on BBC1's 'I Can See Your Voice' 2021, as guest soloist at the International Opera Awards 2019, which took place at the Saddler’s Wells Theatre in London and singing Mozart repertoire with the Hallé Orchestra at the Bridgewater Hall. In 2020, Naomi made her recording debut as soloist in Sullivan Songs alongside Sir David Owen Norris and in last June featured as an artist for La ScenaMusicale, Canada's most respected classical music, opera, jazz and world music magazine and ended 2021 on a high by winning the Sir David Maddison Opera Prize. She now looks forward to a masterclass with Ermolena Jaho (on behalf of the International Opera Awards) as well as the many other concerts and performances programmed for 2026.

https://www.naomi-rogers.com/

Patrick Hemmerlé is a French concert pianist based in Cambridge, UK. Acclaimed for his intellectually rich programming and virtuosic command of the instrument, he has built an international reputation. His repertoire is extensive and imaginative, showing unrelenting curiosity for lesser-known composers, and he is known for drawing deep connections between works from different styles and eras.

Currently Musician-in-Residence at Clare Hall, Cambridge University, Hemmerlé curates and directs the college’s celebrated concert series, Intimate Engagements. His recent concert appearances have taken him across Europe, China, and the United States, with performances in major cultural centres such as Berlin, Paris, Prague, Vienna, and New York, as well as at leading British festivals and music societies.

Hemmerlé is known not only for his technical command, but for his ambitious and thought-provoking concert formats. He has performed monumental works such as the complete 24 Études of Chopin or the entire 48 Preludes and Fugues of Bach in single-evening marathon performances. His double recital formats are particularly distinctive—for example, pairing Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations with Bach’s Goldberg Variations, or juxtaposing Beethoven’s final three piano sonatas with Schubert’s last three.

A passionate advocate for underrepresented repertoire, Hemmerlé frequently includes composers such as Vítězslav Novák, Jean Roger-Ducasse, Nikolai Tchesnokov, Emmanuel, and Frank Martin in his programmes, often introducing audiences to major works they might otherwise never hear. This spirit of discovery also informs his discography, which includes recordings of Novak, Tchesnokov, Brahms, Schumann, and Roger-Ducasse.

Alongside his performance career, Patrick Hemmerlé is a dedicated teacher and musical thinker. He gives masterclasses and lecture-recitals in the UK and France, and his academic role at Cambridge allows him to engage students and audiences in discussions about structure, interpretation, and musical context. His concerts often include spoken introductions or in-depth programme notes that reflect his commitment to fostering deeper listening.

https://patrickhemmerle.com/

Jennifer Freer is a marine ecologist at the British Antarctic Survey. Jen specialises in understanding the distribution of polar marine species and their vulnerability to our changing climate. Jen's research combines spatial modelling, ecological forecasting, and field expeditions in the Arctic and Antarctic to understand how animals such as krill, copepods and fish respond to environmental change. Alongside her research, Jen co-leads and contributes to international working groups and uses creative storytelling to make polar science engaging and accessible to wider audiences.

https://jjfreer.squarespace.com/

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