Renowned Kalkadunga musician and ARIA-award winner, William Barton, known as the world's top didgeridoo player, has teamed up with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO) for a unique project.
This initiative aims to discover and work with emerging storytellers and songwriters to create a Song to Country.
The flagship project was recently unveiled along the Brisbane River/Meanjin, following a ceremony in Mount Isa/Kalkadoon last month.
warrma piipa: ngatji patija; kutu patija; ngata waru (Songbook: My Story; Your Story; Our Journey) is a unique and ambitious multi-year, multi-artform project that weaves stories, language, song, music and creative expression into a cross-Queensland Journey composition.
QSO Chief Executive Yarmilla Alfonzetti, who accompanied Mr Barton and his mother Aunty Dalmae Barton, to Mount Isa for the Ceremony to begin the Journey, said warrma piipa (Songbook) was a pivotal imprint for the company.
"As our journey deepens and ultimately gains momentum, we have made a pledge to lead with compassion, to listen closely, and to find ways and places in all that we do for our First Nations kindred spirits to become part of QSO evermore," she said.
"We are fortunate to have William Barton lead us in this extraordinary partnership.
"Travelling and working alongside William, making music and visiting communities to find the next generation of First Nations storytellers and song-makers will be one of the most powerful experiences we will all have, and we are committed to ensure it lasts for generations to come."
Mr Barton noted warrma piipa was a pathway to change.
"We are in a time of great change and process, and warrma pippa is how I am using my voice together with the sonic force of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, plus the intimacy of individual instruments to represent ideas and interpret the legacy of landscape, and the hope and potential of those who live on it," he said.
"In creating the warrma piipa project, I acknowledge those aunties, uncles, grandfathers and grandmothers and I acknowledge my mother and father for creating a safe space, a pathway of connection and nurturing the next generation of cultural and musical ambassadors between our two worlds.
"This is a breathing and living time capsule of legacy for the future - and ceremony is the most important to connect all nations of the future. warrma piipa is my story, your story, our journey. "
