Robert Thorpe - Voice of Nature/A Guest in Nature
10.04.25
The Elliða River Station power station
at 7:30 p.m.
Performers
Performed by Polar Institute ensemble and choir.
Polar Institute:
Jón G. Breiðfjörður Álfgeirsson - drums
Jóhannes Guðjónsson - piano
Sigurður Halldórsson - cello
Símon Karl Melsteð - clarinet
Anna Tabaczynska - flute
Rob Thorpe - electric guitar
Robert Thorpe
MMus in Creativity, Communication and Entrepreneurship - NAIP
Voice of nature /A Guest in Nature is a new piece for choir and hybrid classical/jazz group that plays with themes of our place in nature and anxiety over climate breakdown.
The text is drawn from several sources including Gunnar Gunnarsson's novel Guest the One Eyed (first published in 1912 as Borgslægten's historie), Andri Snær Magnason's memoral text to the received glacier Ok and other found texts, hymn text and data.
The piece is presented alongside new arrangements of music by Judd Greenstein (USA) and Esbjörn Svensson (SWE).
A Guest in Nature marks a development of the music Polar Institute has been making in different combinations since 2015, further blurring the genre lines of classical vocal music and rhythmic improvisation.
Voice of Nature /A Guest in Nature:
Rob Thorpe (GB) has been working as a guitarist, composer and band leader of the Polar Institute since 2013. Originally working with metal bands and free improvisation, Rob started to compose concert music inspired by 20th century classical composers and is now most interested in combining these beaches to make a cohesive nothing hybrid language.
Rob's talks to Iceland begin in 2017 with a residency at Gunnar Gunnarsson Institute at Skriduklastur, Eastern Iceland. Several projects have developed from this work in the years since, culminating with this extended piece for choir.
Polar Institute is an evolving ensemble exploring the language of neoclassical, progressive and jazz music, centred around the core of piano and guitar. The group has produced three albums in various combinations from quartet to sextet, most recent Songs from Skriduklaustur in 2024..
