On the frozen edge of the world, staying in practice as a professional musician requires smarts, determination, and a plastic schoolboy instrument that’s guaranteed not to freeze to your fingers or face.

Natalie Paine is an instrument player in the New Zealand Navy, who has been among 21 military members stationed in Antarctica since October.

There, her melodies float across the frozen Ross Sea from perhaps the most remote exercise room on Earth, the Telegraph reports.

“It’s beautiful and very inspiring. I’ll sit there by the window and do my routine and play music in my free time, which doesn’t happen very often,” Paine told the Associated Press.

The story of how she arrived in Antarctica is ‘impossible.’ Paine grew up in the hot, dry climate of Adelaide, Australia, where she dreamed of visiting the frozen continent as a scientist.

Instead, she studied music at university, putting Antarctica out of her mind.

Years later, however, as a musician in the New Zealand navy, Paine learned that members of the country’s military were stationed in Antarctica to support the work of scientists.

When she asked, her instructor said that any military member could earn one of the coveted assignments.

“My eyes lit up and I thought, what? Another musician,” Paine said.

Her dream was rekindled, but its implementation was not easy. It took four years of unsuccessful applications before Paine landed a position as a communications operator.

It’s a demanding job, worked in six-day intervals that leave little time for music.

Paine monitors radio, phone, email and other communications traffic at the New Zealand mission at Scott Base, sometimes speaking to people on the ice who haven’t heard other voices for weeks.

At every window he can find, Paine squeezes scales and does mouth exercises, doing his best not to disturb others on 24-hour shifts.

This means venturing out from the main base to a hut built in 1957 under the leadership of explorer Sir Edmund Hillary, as New Zealand established its presence in Antarctica.

While playing by the window, watching seals on the ice, Paine finds new musical motifs bubbling. To watch the video click here. /Telegraph/