Multi-instrumentalist and ground-breaking didgeridoo player, William Barton has travelled the globe for over two decades sharing his Kalkadunga heritage accompanied by some of the world's leading orchestras.
From the age of seven, living on a cattle station near Mt Isa in Northwest Queensland, Barton learned the didgeridoo from his uncle, an elder of the Wannyi, Lardil and Kalkadunga peoples.He was inspired to find ways to meld his ancestral stories and sounds into classical music, making the decision to leave school and pursue music at just 12 years old. "It was the path that sort of chose me," William says.
"I wanted to be a part of that journey of culture, language and the landscape, and how inspiring it is to hear language being sung by our elders and how those stories are passed down generation to generation. And the sound of the didgeridoo as well, to be a part of that presence of what truly is an Australian sound."
William credits his mother – singer, songwriter and poet Aunty Delmae Barton – for supporting him throughout his career, sharing musical inspiration, creativity, and the stage.
"Hopefully the music will take the audience to the heavens above and back to earth." - William Barton
"It's special that mum could see that journey and I can pay respect to her for her gift that she's passed on to me. She certainly opened up that big horizon of working with the orchestras and creating a repertoire of Australian classical music that was even more Australian.
"It's special to be able to have that opportunity to perform with mum on stage and, even throughout COVID last year, we'd ask mum to write poems so that we could read them throughout the work, so she's always there."
Before international borders were closed, William represented Australia at a Celebration of Commonwealth Day 2019 at Westminster Abbey performing his composition, 'Kalkadungu's Journey'. "My piece that I performed on the didge uses the traditional name, Kalkadunga," William says.
"It was very important to me to have that relayed over the airways of BBC radios and have that echoed out through Westminster Abbey. That was my tribute to my people, and if you watch the video clip I acknowledge the North, South, East and West, and pay homage to Kalkadunga country in Australia and represent us."
William has represented his people on stages all over the world, and says he enjoys being an ambassador of Kalkadunga language and culture. "I am proud of sharing that stage with my people, which is important," William says.
"When I'm overseas and I engage with the audience, I would say if you want to know more about Australian culture and be a part of it, come to the landscape yourself, and experience it yourself for real and in real time."
That invitation to experience William's stories of culture and language on Australian soil is one that music lovers in Queensland can take up in late June at a special event as part of the new Queensland Music Trails programme, curated by the Queensland Music Festival (QMF).
William will join Kate Miller-Heidke for a remote chamber concert, Music for Stargazing, at the Charleville Cosmos Centre, about 800 kilometres inland from Brisbane on Bidjera country. They will be joined by renowned soloists: Aunty Delmae Barton, Jess Hitchcock, Keir Nuttall, Samuel Pankurst, Veronique Serret and Vanessa Tomlinson.
The event will feature Barton's world premiere of a new composition, which draws on inspiration from Charleville's night sky and the Dreamtime stories of the Bidjera people. "It's very special and coincidental that QMF chose me as a composer because it's mum's country," William says.
"There was a big family reunion when we went out there to connect with the community and let them know that we're there to help them share their pride and joy in the language of the land there; and the music, through my new piece, represents just that.
"How important the language and the lullaby of our ancestors is to our next generation of storytellers, and how even if you sing to a dry river bed you'll still come back to life one day.
"That's a concept that I want people to walk away from when they hear my piece and hopefully take on some language of the local people as well."
William's purpose to share Bidjera culture through his music was supported immediately by the traditional custodians, who took him to places that would inspire his composition. "They took us out on the land and the feeling that I got from these places certainly contributed to the soundscape of the piece," William says.
"I'd sing on the spot, get my phone and record a melody or rhythm and take that back. If it feels right I put that into the work, because that's something from the land I was inspired by."
The composition also considers the performers William will be working alongside at the event, including the operatic vocals of Kate Miller-Heidke. "Kate's involvement with her particular style of singing and her sound is really awesome, it's amazing," William says.
"To have Kate come in there and complement the language alongside mum, Aunty Delmae, on stage connecting with her people, I think it's going to be quite special."
William says the opportunity to hear the works presented under the stars and far from the city lights will create an experience that is hard to replicate anywhere else.
"It's amazing out there away from the city light pollution. To look up at the stars in winter time will be amazing. Hopefully the music will take the audience to the heavens above and back to earth."
Music for Stargazing takes place as part of Queensland Music Trails at Cosmos Centre (Charleville) 29-30 June. Queensland Music Trails events run from 25 June to 11 July. William Barton with the Australian String Quartet play Adelaide Town Hall 21 July as part of Illuminate Adelaide.
