Ensemble Q & William Barton

What are the sonic possibilities when the oldest wind instrument in the world – the digeridoo – teams up with instruments that found their final form only two centuries ago?

And who better than distinguished artist William Barton, award-winning clarinetist and composer Paul Dean, plus the stellar line-up of Ensemble Q, to explore that question?

Ensemble Q is a group powered by the passion and fizz of curiosity and underpinned by the virtuosic integrity of some of Australia’s finest musicians. It might just be the perfect playground for making music. Their ear-catching program includes new works from William Barton and Paul Dean alongside hand-picked masterpieces by Brahms and Ligeti which promise to wrap audiences in a multi-faceted kaleidoscope of sound.

'[Ensemble Q was] quite possibly the best performance I’ve seen all year, and an astonishing feat of music-making.. frankly, this was a jaw-dropping performance.' – Limelight

' The possibilities are extraordinary. [William Barton] is a great man. He radiates.' – Sir Simon Rattle, Artistic Director, Berlin Philharmonic

ALISON MITCHELL flute

HUW JONES oboe

PAUL DEAN co-artistic director and clarinet

DAVID MITCHELL bassoon

PETER LUFF horn

TRISH DEAN co-artistic director and cello

PHOEBE RUSSELL double bass

and

WILLIAM BARTON voice, didgeridoo / composer

William BARTON New work (2024)

BRAHMS Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38 (arr. Breuer)

LIGETI Six Bagatelles

Paul DEAN Concerto for Cello and Wind Quintet