v_3: William Barton (didgeridoo) // Merve

”He’s one of the great virtuosos … The possibilities are extraordinary … He radiates.” – Sir Simon Rattle, Artistic Director Berliner Philharmoniker

For the closing night of Series Five we welcome an icon of Australian music to the Play On stage: Legendary didgeridoo player, William Barton. With a musical practice that blends the oldest living culture in the world with Europe’s rich classical music tradition, William has expanded the horizons of the didgeridoo and the culture and landscape that it represents.

Equally at home performing in his hometown near Mt Isa in Queensland as he is playing in the most revered concert halls in Europe, Barton has performed with some of the world’s leading classical ensembles including the London and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras.

With his prodigious musicality and the quiet conviction of his Kalkadunga heritage, Barton is celebrated as a performer, composer and improviser. For this special performance he appears alongside four formidable string players to present a selection of his own works for string quartet and didgeridoo.

A key member of Melbourne’s electronic music scene, Merve’s DJ sets traverse house, acid, tribal, techno and disco with leftfield oddities sprinkled throughout. Driven by a keen preoccupation for breaking down the barriers between audience and performer, Merve explores the boundaries of the spaces she inhabits through her sets, blurring the dichotomy between light and dark.

Delivering her idiosyncratic sound to countless clubs, parties and festival stages, Merve has held down peak time slots everywhere from Strawberry Fields to the legendary Golden Plains Festival. She has performed alongside esteemed acts Objekt, The Black Madonna, Honey Dijon, Barbara Tucker, Motor City Drum Ensemble, Jane Fitz and Virginia.

In each of her sets, Merve has a unique ability to scramble the axis, connecting dancers to a wider vibration, a harder jack, a higher groove. This performance will be no exception. Get ready to be taken to a deeper realm.

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