As part of Neuf Week, Megumi Masaki presented her multidisciplinary project Hearing Ice on Monday evening at the Wilder, a program infused with climate activism, yet carrying hope and the possibility of change.
The concert opens with Melt, composed by Keith Hamel. This piece sets the tone of the evening with precision: emphasizing the importance of ice in our lives. Throughout the piece, we follow a massive glacier slowly liquefying before our eyes.
Projected on the screen are the words of the renowned activist Greta Thunberg, reminding us of the crucial importance of our environment, while also underlining the protest-driven aspect of the concert, just beginning. In a gentle, yet compelling way, Megumi Masaki transports us through her pianistic universe, where ice is rendered in all its grandeur.
The program continues with Ian Cusson’s Frozen Roads, an ode to the icy routes that connect isolated communities to the mainland in Ontario’s Georgian Bay on Lake Huron. A video illustrating these realities is projected as Masaki enriches Brendan Briceland’s footage with Cusson’s music. These two pieces establish the thematic and emotional landscape for the rest of the evening, presenting Hearing Ice in its multifaceted form.
Next comes Keith Hamel’s Piano Games, a piece that is certainly intriguing. Here, the pianist must perform while simultaneously engaging in a video game that evolves according to the piano sounds and the performer’s gestures. That said, the piece feels somewhat jarring within the program, lacking an obvious connection to Masaki’s overarching musical vision.
Ollie Hawker’s And bleak blew the easterly wind offers an almost meditative moment, where piano and video achieve perfect symbiosis. With visuals more minimalist than other pieces in the program, the audience is invited to focus on the piano performance itself, providing a necessary pause to digest the information and imagery presented so far.
The concert concludes with See the Freeze, Hear the Thaw, a film by Caroline Cox and Benjamin McGregor, accompanied by music from Carmen Braden. We are transported to the community of Yellowknife, meeting people for whom winter and ice are not just a part of daily life, but also a foundation of cultural identity. Through music and dialogue, these individuals express their fears about climate change, while reminding us that every small action matters in the effort to protect our planet.
