Didjeridu meets QSO at UQ/ABC International Fair
Seventeen-year-old Mount Isa Kalkadungu didjeridu artist William Barton often performs with heavy rock bands, but he will do a gig with a difference on Sunday, October 11.
Mr Barton will play the didjeridu in the key of C for a spectacular Symphony at Sunset concert by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra conducted by Maestro Werner Andreas Albert in the University of Queensland's Great Court at St Lucia at 6.15pm.
The concert, accompanied by a lantern parade designed by Woodford Folk Festival fire artist Neil Cameron, will be a highlight of the UQ/ABC International Fair, a celebration of cultural diversity to be held from noon to about 7pm at the University.
Mr Barton will be soloist for the world premiere of Dance Gundah, a contemporary piece for didjeridu and orchestra written by head of the University's School of Music Dr Philip Bracanin.
He has been playing didjeridu since the age of seven, following the lead of an uncle Arthur Peterson and supported by his mother Delmae Barton, who are both accomplished didjeridu artists.
"I've since acquired my own style," he said. A musician who plays by ear, he does not read music and learned his Dance Gundah piece from tapes sent by Dr Bracanin.
Mr Barton left school to concentrate on his music and Aboriginal culture, inspired by his father, the late Alfred Barton. He has achieved fame as a soloist for his technique, which includes gifted imitations of birds and animals.
"People see the didjeridu as a spiritual presence," he said. "The breathing is the easiest part but it takes many years to learn the technique, rhythms and protocols."
He plays with Australian rock groups the Warumpi Band, The Coloured Stone, and the Goanna Band, helps youth programs at local churches in Mount Isa, and has played at multicultural festivals, workshops and at a popular production, Flamingo Dreaming.
Last year he toured with the Doonoch dancers to the U.S. and Hawaii, and played at the Dream Speakers Festival in Canada. Late this month he will perform at the International Festival in Melbourne, and has been invited by Austrian actor and producer Karl Merkatz to perform in an 18th century Viennese opera house, as part of an Australian group, AICA.
Next year he plans to work on a CD of his compositions. Mr Barton's visit to Brisbane for the UQ/ABC International Fair is sponsored by BHP Cannington.
The Queensland Symphony Orchestra concert will also include popular selections of music from Russia, Finland, England, Italy and France selected by Maestro Albert, Dr Bracanin and QSO general manager Rodney Jacobson.
Other fair highlights will include performances by members of the ABC PlaySchool program at 12.30pm and 2.30pm, the UQ Symphony Orchestra, Brazilian drummers, street theatre and roving entertainers, face painting, and food and craft stalls from many nations.
As well as regular bus services, free Brisbane City Council buses will depart the Benson Street, Toowong bus stop (opposite the Toowong railway station) for the UQ/ABC International Fair every half hour from 12 noon to 8pm on Sunday.
Media contacts: Fair co-ordinator Dr Nadja Alexander telephone 3365 2219
Mr Barton telephone 0747 43 1778 (until October 8)
telephone 07 3892 6759 (October 9 to 11).
