Australian Youth Orchestra
From Sydney Direct to Mt Isa
The thrilling performance by AYO musicians, featured renowned artists William Barton, didgeridoo and Genevieve Lacey, recorders, under the baton of Nicolas Carter.
Originally hailing from Mount Isa, the concert held at Sydney’s City Recital Hall was a particularly moving experience for legendary didgeridoo and vocal phenomenon William Barton, who was touched to be able to share the evening with his family and friends at home. Kalkadoon Community chairwoman Noeleen Dempsey commented that:
‘William is from here, this is his traditional country, and his dad was an elder here and a founding member of the organisation. We wanted to make it a free for-all to give back to the community – that was his idea.’
Treated to a free concert under the stars, the community of Mount Isa enjoyed a concert which saw the Suite from Stravinsky’s Pulcinella and Beethoven’s third Symphony, Eroica brought to life by the AYO chamber orchestra under the baton of Nicholas Carter. Of particular pertinence to the occasion was Barton’s mesmerising, atmospheric performance of his Birdsong at Dusk which was accompanied by gifted AYO instrumentalists Yena Choi, Yuhki Mayne, Hannah Donohoe and Timmothy Oborne. As always, Genevieve Lacey shone in her performance of TÜÜR’s Whistles and Whispers from Uluru, with which she dazzled and astonished the audience with her capacity to produce the most unlikely of sound effects on her recorders.