William Barton © Keith Saunders

William Barton is Australia’s leading didgeridoo player as well as a highly esteemed composer, instrumentalist and vocalist. William first learnt 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, fusion/rock/jazz bands, orchestras, string quartets and mixed ensembles. Throughout his diverse career he has forged a path in the classical musical world from the London, Berlin and Bremer Philharmonic Orchestras to historic events at Westminster Abbey for Commonwealth Day 2019, at Anzac Cove in Gallipoli and the Beijing Olympics. William holds honorary doctorates from both Griffith University and the University of Sydney. He has released 5 albums on the ABC Classics label including Heartland 2022 with Veronique Serret and the words of William’s mother, Aunty Delmae Barton. William has been developing a new musical language, which is epitomised in this record. William was named Queensland Australian of the Year for 2023 and was an Australian of the Year Nominee. In 2023 he also received the Richard Gill Award for Distinguished Services to Australian Music.

In 2022 he was recognised for his work with the Australian Chamber Orchestra for the Sountrack of the film “River”. River won Best Soundtrack Album and Best Original Song Composed for the Screen at the APRA AMCOS Screen Awards, Best Original Score in a Documentary at the AACTA Awards and Best Original Soundtrack at the ARIA Awards.
His other awards include the presigious Don Banks Music Award from the Australian Council in 2021, winner of Best Original Score for a Mainstage Production at the 2018 Sydney Theatre Awards and Winner of Best Classical Album at the ARIA Awards for Birdsong At Dusk in 2012.

“He’s one of the great virtuosos. It’s a sound I had heard before, but never with that sort of technique. The possibilities are extraordinary. This is a great man. He radiates. You watch him and think, this is impressive.”
- Sir Simon Rattle -

“Barton has an incredible drive, an incredible ambition, but the nicest kind. He’s a model to all indigenous people, to all Australians.”
- Peter Sculthorpe, Composer -

Khatia Buniatishvili © Gavin Evans

Born in Georgia, Khatia Buniatishvili discovered the piano at the very early age of three. She gave her first performance with the Tbilisi Chamber Orchestra when she was six years old and was performing internationally by the age of ten. Khatia studied in Tbilisi with Tengiz Amiredibi and in Vienna with Oleg Maisenberg.

In 2008, Khatia made her U.S. debut at Carnegie Hall and has since appeared at the Hollywood Bowl, Apple Music Festival, BBC Proms, Salzburger Festspiele, Verbier Festival, Menuhin Festival Gstaad, La Roque-d'Anthéron Festival, Klavier-Festival Ruhr, and The Progetto Martha Argerich. She has performed in eminent concert halls across the world, including Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Musikverein Wien, Wiener Konzerthaus, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Berliner Philharmonie, Philharmonie de Paris, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Teatro alla Scala, Teatro La Fenice, Palau de la Música Catalana, Geneva’s Victoria Hall, Tonhalle Zürich, the Rudolfinum, Shanghai Grand Theatre, Beijing’s NCPA, NCPA Mumbai, Suntory Hall, and Singapore’s Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay.

Khatia enjoys musical partnerships with some of the world’s leading conductors, having performed under the batons of Zubin Mehta, Plácido Domingo, Kent Nagano, Neeme Järvi, Paavo Järvi, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Jaap van Zweden, Mikhail Pletnev, Marin Alsop, Klaus Mäkelä, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Semyon Bychkov, , Gianandrea Noseda, Gustavo Dudamel, Myung-Whun Chung, and Philippe Jordan. She has collaborated with such orchestras as Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, China Philharmonic Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, Filarmonica della Scala, Wiener Symphoniker, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Münchner Philharmoniker, and Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks.

Khatia has participated in numerous charity events, including the United Nation’s 70th Anniversary charity concert in aid of Syrian refugees; Global Citizen Festival Hamburg 2017; Kiev’s Charity Concert for wounded persons in the Anti-Terrorist Operation Zone; ‘To Russia with Love’ concert against violation of human rights in Russia; United Nations Climate Change Conference - Marrakech Climate Show; and the DLDWomen conference.

Her extensive discography with SONY Classical includes the albums ‘Franz Liszt’ (2011), ‘Chopin’ (2012), ‘Motherland’ (2014), ‘Kaleidoscope’ (2016), ‘Rachmaninoff’ (2017), ‘Schubert’ (2019), and ‘Labyrinth’ (2020). Khatia is a two-time ECHO KLASSIK Award winner (in 2012 for ‘Franz Liszt’ and 2016 for ‘Kaleidoscope’) and collaborated with the rock group Coldplay for their album ‘A Head Full of Dreams’ (2015).

SEASON 2024/2025