Music scenes flourish everywhere, even in Antarctica, the last true wilderness on Earth. Home to a few thousand research scientists, Antarctica has a unique historical music scene. In a place where the only sounds are the occasional penguin or cracking glacier, music is often what breaks the silence.
To keep up spirits with a link to civilization, the famous Captain Robert Falcon Scott brought two gramophones on his last expedition to the South Pole at the turn of the 20th century. There are many reports of sailors singing to penguin colonies. No word on whether this pleased or annoyed the penguins. S
cientists based there today have their own little scene. The Argentinians really like metal, and the American base has a classical aficionado. The Ukrainian station is into folk, and some of its researchers even hold jam sessions. One Ukrainian scientist even built a piano in their lab to pass the long Antarctic winter.
© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Ad Choices
