Rhett Brewer

In Expectation of the Thaw is a stunning next-generation performance work. Inspired by Global Warming, the production immerses the audience in a multisensory Arctic universe. Film sequences shot in the Arctic and a Sculpted Ice stage set form a very visual counterpart to highly evocative and emotive music.

Following 2 years of development, the production was launched very successfully in Finland in January, with several sold-out concerts performed with the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra. Initially conceived by Composer Rhett Brewer, Master Ice Sculptor Jamie Hamilton and Film Director Lucas Jedrzejak in 2007, preview concerts were met with rapturous applause from 3000 people and ecstatic reviews
in national television and press.

Shimmering, winter-wonderland music mixes orchestral arrangements with otherworldly Voice and the distinctive sound of Glass Harmonicas. Gripping helicopter shots of icebergs and frozen landscapes intermingle with visual poetry and ticking clocks. Magical sculptures made of ice cut from frozen lakes, form the visual centrepiece. An ice curtain, and candles embedded in ice glisten and melt as the music draws to a close. Dramatically, Brewer performs behind the semi-transparent screen alongside the ice, being lit as if part of the film.