Lior and Nigel Westlake’s groundbreaking work Compassion had its first live performance in Canberra at the Opening Gala of the 2024 Canberra International Music Festival (CIMF), the last under Roland Peelman’s Artistic Directorship.

In 2014, Compassion earned the ARIA award for Best Classical Album. Compassion has been a long time coming.

Véronique Serret (left) and Lior, CIMF Opening Gala 2024. Photo © Peter Hislop

Genevieve Jacobs, the Chair of the CIMF, spoke the Welcome to Country and shared that the ACT Government had just provided funds to the festival. She then introduced Tara Cheyne, ACT Arts Minister, who expressed gratitude to the CIMF for its support of live music in the ACT on this, its 30th anniversary.

Three musical giants from across the world – William Barton singing and on didgeridoo, Hamed Sadeghi on the tar, and Belgium’s Bram De Looze on piano, laid out a grand narrative for a grand opening.

With Barton creating a highly coloured soundscape on his didgeridoo, a world of sound came alive. For five minutes, he tapped, breathed and sang an ancient time into life. A soft piano through single notes joined in, reflecting a similar...