From a chance encounter some years ago at the Four Winds Music Festival, four musicians developed new works into a series of recording sessions in the ABC studios.

Now, in the 2024 Canberra International Music Festival, they united in the lofty setting of Australia’s High Court.

The performers were William Barton, didgeridoo, Aunty Delmae Barton, voice, Véronique Serret, violin and Tamara-Anna Cislowska, piano.

Véronique Serret: High Stakes, Canberra International Music Festival. Photo © Dalice Trost 

In this all-Australian program, they opened with Barton’s Birdsong at Dusk.

With Cislowska ready at the piano, Barton walked through the audience, playing his didgeridoo. From high above, Serret on violin and singing. Then, a single note on the piano, which become a procession of sounds manipulated from the heart of her instrument. Serret walked down and spoke out the words describing the eagle and how it protects us.

Among the sparse notes on the piano, William Barton sang out a call, seemingly from nature. Then soft notes on the violin were accompanied by Aunty Delmae Barton speaking about the spirit winds that carry birds. The four together created a landscape of images through music that pictured the land...