All is still and quiet on these frozen wastelands. But magical music can be heard floating out across the tundra - Mozart and Vivaldi, played to an audience of Nenets people and their reindeer. Two international students, Lygia and Pia, founded the orchestra in the 1980's, when they were students at Moscow's world famous Tshcaikovsky Conservatory. Under Soviet rules foreigners were forbidden to perform with Russians. Lygia and Pia were pioneers in creating the 'Ensemble XXI'. Eleven years later the orchestra is one of the finest in Moscow, with musicians from all nations performing as far north as the Arctic Circle.

Produced by ABC Australia