Didgeridoo virtuoso William Barton and powerhouse violinist Véronique Serret blend traditional songlines and modern storytelling in the exquisite collaboration Heartland.

Experience a unique sound world, inspired by the Australian landscape and the power of connection to place. Heartland blends the poetry of William’s mother Aunty Delmae Barton with violin, didgeridoo and guitar together with powerful, soaring vocals and ethereal loops and electronic effects.

Heartland began life as a seven-minute commission for the 2019 Canberra International Music Festival, and since then has grown organically into an extraordinary hour-long reimagined chamber oratorio. Featuring Barton and Serret’s much loved works ‘Kalkani’, ‘Didge Fusion’ and of course ‘Heartland’ it explores Country, landscape, culture, language and the nature of identity.

Let Heartland’s blend of traditional songlines and contemporary storytelling take you on a meditative musical journey, leaving you reinvigorated and uplifted.

Come with us on an incredible musical journey, as master musician William Barton transports the audience to a sonic world, transcending time and space.

Joined by song woman and wordsmith Aunty Dalmae Barton, composer and violin virtuoso, Véronique Serret, Australian music legend Iva Davies and surrounded by the symphonic landscape of John Foreman’s magnificent 60-piece Australian Pops Orchestra, William’s powerfully moving music will take you to the deep past, the future, to the majestic Australian landscape and the almost unimaginable wonders of the cosmos.

William Barton is one of Australia’s most celebrated musicians. Composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist and one of Australia’s leading didgeridoo players, William is a Kalkadunga man whose music is inspiring, uplifting, and powerful.

This is a very special Melbourne premiere event, not to be missed.

The Voyage of Musical Discovery series was established and designed by the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra and its founding artistic director and world-renowned educator, the late Richard Gill AO.

The second Voyage charts the links between music, culture and narrative.

From a European epicentre of arts and science, the concert begins by exploring the works and stories of two Viennese Romantic composers. That one is almost entirely unknown today and the other famous and admired suggests as much about culture and politics as it does about musical skill.

The second half finds common ground between two instruments of different cultures – the didgeridoo and violin. Together William Barton and Véronique Serret trace improvised musical pathways, and hold a mirror up to the multilayered stories of contemporary culture and place.

The Voyage of Musical Discovery series was established and designed by the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra and its founding artistic director and world-renowned educator, the late Richard Gill AO.

The second Voyage charts the links between music, culture and narrative.

From a European epicentre of arts and science, the concert begins by exploring the works and stories of two Viennese Romantic composers. That one is almost entirely unknown today and the other famous and admired suggests as much about culture and politics as it does about musical skill.

The second half finds common ground between two instruments of different cultures – the didgeridoo and violin. Together William Barton and Véronique Serret trace improvised musical pathways, and hold a mirror up to the multilayered stories of contemporary culture and place.