Photos: For Norway's Terje Isungset, music is carved from ice

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Minneapolis, MN, USA — Terje Isungset holds what will become an ice chime. The Norwegian musician performs entire concerts using only instruments made of ice. (MPR Photo/Nikki Tundel) link to this photo

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Minneapolis, MN, USA — Bill Covitz takes a chainsaw to a 300-pound block of ice on February 24, 2013, at the Ace Ice Company in Minneapolis, Minn. The master ice carver turns frozen water into xylophones, horns, drums and other instruments to be used in Norwegian musician Terje Isungset's concerts. (MPR Photo/Nikki Tundel) link to this photo

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Minneapolis, MN, USA — Mari Kvien Brunvoll looks on as Terje Isungset listens to a slab of ice to get an idea of the tone it will make when played. Brunvoll is a Norwegian singer who will accompany Isungset as he performs an ice concert at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis, Minn., on February 25, 2013. (MPR Photo/Nikki Tundel) link to this photo

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Minneapolis, MN, USA — The ice used to make the instruments comes from Twin Cities lakes. "Artificial ice doesn't work," says musician Terje Isungset. "We don't know why. It just doesn't resonate like ice from a lake." (MPR Photo/Nikki Tundel) link to this photo

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Minneapolis, MN, USA — Mari Kvien Brunvoll hands an ice drumstick to Terje Isungset at the Ace Ice Company in Minneapolis, Minn., on February 24, 2013. Along with American ice carver Bill Covitz, the Norwegian musicians are creating all of the ice instruments for the following night's show. The instruments are only used once since they'll melt as they're played. (MPR Photo/Nikki Tundel) link to this photo

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Minneapolis, MN, USA — "How a piece of ice sounds depends on many variables," says ice carver Bill Covitz. "The sound is affected by how long it took to freeze, how cold it is when played, everything." (MPR Photo/Nikki Tundel) link to this photo

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Minneapolis, MN, USA — Terje Isungset smiles as he carries "the night's best piece of ice" into a holding freezer at Ace Ice Company in Minneapolis, Minn., on February 24, 2013. The block of ice will be used as a bass drum in an ice concert at the city's Cedar Cultural Center. (MPR Photo/Nikki Tundel) link to this photo

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Minneapolis, MN, USA — An 'iceophone' (or ice xylophone) will be one of the key instruments in the ice concert. To create a lower pitch, the musicians make the piece of ice thinner. To create a higher pitch, they make the piece of ice shorter. (MPR Photo/Nikki Tundel) link to this photo

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Minneapolis, MN, USA — Bill Covitz carves blocks of ice at the Ace Ice Company in Minneapolis, Minn., on February 24, 2013. "I like making ice instruments," says Covitz. "I like that it's temporary art. When the instruments melt or crack, the show's over." (MPR Photo/Nikki Tundel) link to this photo

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Minneapolis, MN, USA — Mari Kvien Brunvoll strings together a set of ice chimes on February 24, 2013, in the 13-degrees-Fahrenheit cooler at Ace Ice Company in Minneapolis, Minn. (MPR Photo/Nikki Tundel) link to this photo

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Minneapolis, MN, USA — Waterproof gloves rest on a block of ice as the carvers take a short break. "I've never had my lips freeze to an ice horn," says musician Terje Isungset. "But I have had frostbitten fingers." (MPR Photo/Nikki Tundel) link to this photo