Eine kleine Eismusik: take it in on Italy's disappearing glacier

A violin made from ice is displayed at the Ice Music Festival in an igloo at 2,600 metres above sea level on the Presena glacier, in Passo Paradiso, Italy, January 9, 2020. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

Forget strapless gowns and skimpy dresses. Audiences to this Italian music concert, with instruments made of ice, need to dress for arctic conditions as the venue is in an igloo on top of a glacier.

The Ice Music Festival takes place in the specially built, 300-seat igloo some 2,600 metres (8,500 ft) above sea level on the Presena glacier in northern Italy that experts say is shrinking due to global warming.

The spectacular backdrop is under threat. The glacier has lost over a third of its volume since 1993 and needs to be covered by thermal sheets in summer to keep over 90,000 square meters (969,000 square feet) of its surface from melting.

A musician plays a violin made from ice during a performance at the Ice Music Festival in an igloo at 2,600 metres above sea level on the Presena Glacier, in Passo Paradiso, Italy, January 9, 2020. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

"The Presena is the last glacier under 3,000 metres in the Alps... We are still able to build this igloo... but if the climate changes, we will not be able to live this kind of experience," said Michele Bertolini, an official from the nearby Pontedilegno-Tonale ski resort.

The organizers needed some 10,000 cubic metres (10 tonnes) of snow and more than two months to build the theater which hosts 54 concerts ranging from jazz to pop and classical to traditional music from early January to late March.

"It's a giant long process to build the thing," said Tim Linhart, an American artist and musician who has honed his skill making instruments from ice over 10 years and founder of the which is now in its second year.

A musician plays drums made from ice during a performance at the Ice Music Festival in an igloo at 2,600 metres above sea level on the Presena Glacier, in Passo Paradiso, Italy, January 9, 2020. Picture taken January 9, 2020. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

The construction of the ice instruments was equally complex.

"Each instrument has its own difficulty either because it is so fine and delicate and easy to break ... or it is so big and heavy it is hard to pick up and move around," Linhart said.

But the musicians make it look simple to play the instruments in front of a public dressed in full ski gear with temperatures hovering around freezing levels.

Three igloos that have been turned into hotel rooms known as "ice rooms" are pictured next to the Rifugio Capanna Presena, located 2,700 metres above sea level on the Presena glacier, in Passo del Tonale, Italy, January 9, 2020. Picture taken January 9, 2020. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

(Reporting by Yara Nardi; writing by Angelo Amante; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

Musicians play instruments made from ice during a performance at the Ice Music Festival in an igloo at 2,600 metres above sea level on the Presena Glacier, in Passo Paradiso, Italy, January 9, 2020. Picture taken January 9, 2020. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

A hotel room made from snow and ice is pictured inside an igloo, know as an "ice room" at the Rifugio Capanna Presena, located 2,700 metres above sea level on the Presena glacier, in Passo del Tonale, Italy, January 9, 2020. Picture taken January 9, 2020. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

The exterior of a hotel room made from snow and ice, is pictured outside an igloo at the Rifugio Capanna Presena, located 2,700 metres above sea level on the Presena glacier, in Passo del Tonale, Italy, January 9, 2020. Picture taken January 9, 2020. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

A musician plays a xylophone made from ice during a performance at the Ice Music Festival in an igloo at 2,600 metres above sea level on the Presena Glacier, in Passo Paradiso, Italy, January 9, 2020. Picture taken January 9, 2020. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

A musician plays a violin made from ice during a performance at the Ice Music Festival in an igloo at 2,600 metres above sea level on the Presena Glacier, in Passo Paradiso, Italy, January 9, 2020. Picture taken January 9, 2020. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

The exterior of a hotel room made from snow and ice, is pictured outside an igloo at the Rifugio Capanna Presena, located 2,700 metres above sea level on the Presena glacier, in Passo del Tonale, Italy, January 9, 2020. Picture taken January 9, 2020. REUTERS/Yara Nardi