This musician captures the sound of climate change in the Alaskan wilderness
CHUGACH STATE PARK — To composer Matthew Burtner, the natural world is one of our best musical instruments. And by composing avant-garde soundscapes from Alaska's wilderness — sounds from glaciers, snow and wind — he's trying to use it to raise awareness of climate change.
"When I was studying music, I was impressed by the sounds of the natural world, and in general, the power and the presence of the Alaskan wilderness, and I naturally made music with those things," he told Alaska Public Media's "Indie Alaska." "As I got older, the environment started changing, and I started hearing those changes in the sounds that I loved."
Burtner was born and raised in Alaska and spent much of his childhood in Bristol Bay and other rural villages. Eventually his parents moved to the Chugach Mountains in Chugach State Park, where they built their own cabin and raised their kids. Now, Matthew lives in the cabin, and he's turned the loft into a personal music studio, where he does most of the post production for his compositions. He said he first started noticing the warming climate when the cottonwood trees began to grow higher up on the mountains, in the process blocking the wind. This prompted him to start using his music to reflect the changes in the Alaskan wilderness.
Burtner's latest album, "Glacier Music," is an electroacoustic collection recorded on Alaskan glaciers, featuring the sounds of snow, trickling streams, and the cracks, pops, and booms as glaciers break apart and move. One of the tracks on the album, "Sound Cast of Matanuska Glacier," was a special request from former President Barack Obama for the 2015 GLACIER Conference.
This report originally appeared on Alaska Public Media's "Indie Alaska."
Support Canvas
Sustain our coverage of culture, arts and literature.
Kimiko Hahn, a professor at Queens College, City University of New York, is the author of 10 books of poetry…
Gustavo Dudamel will become music director of the New York Philharmonic for the 2026-27 season, ending a tenure with the…
Some see it as punishment for Disney's opposition to the so-called "Don't Say Gay" law championed by Republican Gov. Ron…
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo says no Russian team should not be allowed to compete at the Paris Olympics next year…
Ticket prices are predictably high for the Los Angeles Lakers' next two home games, with LeBron James poised to break…
Over 50 million American adults plan to bet on this year's Super Bowl, wagering a total of $16 billion, the…
The 65th annual Grammy Awards showcased a hip-hop tribute for the ages and celebrated some major high points in the…
Harry Styles won album of the year at the Grammy Awards, taking home the top honor on a night that…
Dr. Donna Adams-Pickett is a practicing OB-GYN in Georgia, a state that's known as a maternal care desert. She's run…
Several of the nominees at this year's Grammy Awards rose to fame and popularity on music streaming platforms like Spotify…
The sounds of the world brought to New York for one night, and from there, to a club, concert hall…
PARIS (AP) -- Spanish-born fashion designer Paco Rabanne has died at age 88. The company that owns the Rabanne brand…
Although still in their 20s, actors Ben Platt and Noah Galvin are already performing veterans. Both have played dozens of…
Acclaimed science fiction author Octavia Butler offered insight into the place that space and its explorers occupy in our collective…
The year's nominees for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, which also include Iron Maiden and the…