Watch: Karen Power’s “life between poles” at Klangwerkstatt
Watch the stunning life between poles by Karen Power, performed by Quiet Music Ensemble and ensemble mosaik at Klangwerkstatt Festival in November 2025.
Credits:
life between poles (2025) for 2 ensembles, Arctic and Antarctic ice, projection, light and live soundsculpture
Commissioned by Klangwertstatt Berlin, with thanks to the Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung
ensemble mosaik: Kristjana Helgadottir | Christian Vogel | Simon Strasser | Ernst Surberg | Roland Neffe | Chatschatur Kanajan | Karen Lorenz | Mathis Mayr | Arne Vierck | Eckehard Güther
Quiet Music Ensemble: Nick Roth | Roddy O’Keeffe | Yseult Cooper-Stockdale | Dan Bodwell | John Godfrey | Alexis Nealon | Anna Murray
Kamera: Mike Ioannidis, Kantatach Kijtikhun, jakob klaffs, Kanella Petropoulou, Hugo Reis | Ton: Saemi Jeong, Justin Robinson, Connor Shafran | Tonmischung: Justin Robinson | Videoregie, Postproduktion: jakob klaffs | Bild- und Textredaktion: Laura Weber | Künstlerische Leitung: Stefan Streich | Künstlerische Produktionsleitung und Dramaturgie: Nina Ermlich
About life between poles
Irish composer Karen Power collected unique audio recordings during her explorations above, below, and inside the ice of the North and South Poles. Based on this material, life between poles (WP) was created – a 60-minute multimedia performance for two ensembles, video, light, surround sound, and live resonant objects. ensemble mosaik from Berlin and the Irish Quiet Music Ensemble will present this world premiere together. Not only the instrumental and sampled sounds and the large video projections interact in this work, but also the architectural and dialogical space between the musicians, performers, and the audience. In this way, the work creates a space in which the polar regions can resound and be perceived in all their uniqueness, beauty, fragility, and wildness.
All photos: John Godfrey
Karen Power and Quiet Music Ensemble were supported by Culture Ireland. life between poles was commissioned by Klangwerkstatt Berlin with the support of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation