On August 12 the new orchestral work from Australian composer William Barton will receive its European premiere at the Edinburgh International Festival. The Chineke! Chamber Ensemble perform The Rising of Mother Country alongside the composer at the Queen’s Hall as part of the festival’s UK/Australia Season 2021-22.
Of the work, the composer explains:
‘The Rising of Mother Country is about our homelands, unity, the truth of hardships as well as the importance of language, cultural heritage and respect of legacy acknowledging generations before us and their contributions to society. Each instrument interprets a part of the players’ landscape, their own history and bloodlines of their mother country - we in turn welcome people into a safe space - the lullaby, like a chant - the player has chosen their instrument as a way of communication, a modern-day paintbrush.
I hope the music written helps reflect on the true spirit of heart and soul.’
Book Tickets: Edinburgh International Festival - Chineke! Chamber Ensemble & William Barton
Barton will also perform Didge Fusion (2012) with Chineke! Chamber Ensemble at St Johns Smith Square, London on August 10 ahead of the festival. More info
William Barton (b. 1981)
William Barton is an exciting new force in the landscape of classical composition. Combining talents as instrumentalist, vocalist and didgeridoo player with his compositional craft, Barton is highly sought-after for the commissioning of new works. Central to his success is Barton’s driving passion to integrate and fuse the indigenous sound realm with western classical music tradition. The results are stunning and compelling. He started learning the instrument from his uncle, Arthur Peterson, an elder of the Wannyi, Lardil and Kalkadunga people and was working from an early age with traditional dance groups and fusion/rock jazz bands, orchestras, string quartets, and mixed ensembles. Read more.
