Listening to Antarctica

Featuring renowned violinist Anna McMichael, pianist Paul Grabowsky, trumpeter Peter Knight, and visual artist Nick Roux, Listening to Antarctica reimagines the early 20th-century Antarctic travelogue, a spectacular form of public entertainment that combined lectures, storytelling, lantern slides, music and theatrical elements to portray Antarctic exploration as a heroic struggle against a dangerous and unforgiving landscape.

This thought-provoking project shifts the focus away from human heroism and survival towards Antarctica’s mystery, fragility, and wonder, reflecting the profound changes brought about by the climate crisis and humanity’s growing impact on the continent.

Drawing on historic glass lantern slides from the State Library of Victoria, including images connected to Antarctic expeditions by Andrew Keith Jack and John King Davis, this performance brings Antarctica’s past landscapes into conversation with the present. Roux reanimates these images, while contemporary Antarctic scientists reflect on how our understanding of and relationship with Antarctica has changed.

The poignant musical soundscapes created by McMichael, Grabowsky, and Knight, layered with Antarctic field recordings invite listeners to experience the continent as a fragile and vital part of Earth’s climate and life systems.

This concert is part of our See Beyond series. See Beyond is generously supported by the Robert Salzer Foundation .