Wayfinding

A new commission in collaboration with Chris Williams for the Southern Cross Soloists

Wayfinding (2025)

Wayfinding is an invitation— into the first notes of this 30th year of chamber music, and into the artistry and worlds of the musicians for whom this new work was created.

In our collaboration across the Pacific, Didgeridoo virtuoso Chris Williams shared overtones he was newly exploring—vulnerable calls that seemed like echoes across space and time. These became the very first notes of Wayfinding, with textures, rhythmic spiccato, and shimmering breath sounds explored, and uncovering tones he could sing while supported by a drone.

The work begins close in—calls emerging from a bed of ethereal strings, an exploration of courage, joy, moments of breath, grounding and reflection. A sonic invitation that expands into glimmers and shimmering movement, expansive, vast, and then bringing us close in.

I wrote as large fires in Los Angeles burned to my north, and the homes, music studios and neighbourhoods of my closest Australian musician collaborators were reduced to ash, the air heavy with smoke. In the face of great loss, we dedicate this piece to them, and when we find ourselves in moments of beginning again, finding a way forward.

The work began with a line from a David Whyte poem “Start Close In”. He urges us, “Start close in, don't take the second step or the third, start with the first thing close in, the step you don't want to take.”

Of this, he writes, “It reflects…trying to make home in the world again when everything has been taken away; the necessity of stepping bravely again, into what looks now like a dark wood, when the outer world as we know it has disappeared, when the world has to be met and in some ways made again from no outer ground but from the very center of our being.”

Wayfinding calls us just beyond ourselves. Whyte’s poem tells us: "Just beyond yourself. It’s where you need to be. Half a step into self-forgetting and the rest restored by what you’ll meet."

In her book on Wayfinding, M. R. O’Connor further explores this, writing that it "... becomes a way of knowing… it is how you can fall in love with a mountain or a forest."

In music, as in life, we find our way by bravely taking a first step forward. Shaped by our presence, nurtured and kept vital from within, and with those around us, Wayfinding invites us in. It unfolds into the healing, growth, hope and possibilities of the beautiful unknown.

—Leah Curtis, 2025

Wayfinding is dedicated to those Australians living in Los Angeles affected by the fires, especially those in music, and to the resilience of those who continue to press forward and reconnect through music. It also honours those affected by the devastating bushfires that have impacted various parts of Australia over the years, causing widespread destruction and loss.

Embarking once again on this journey of collaborating with Leah to write this new work has been a very special experience. The journey of writing music with Leah always captures the emotional intent of the process, with the outcome consistently evoking a very poignant response to what is created. Wayfinding is not just a piece of music; it is an emotional and artistic response to the shared challenges of navigating a landscape both physically and emotionally affected by fires.

In Wayfinding, we were able to incorporate new overtone notes on the didgeridoo, creating deeper, more resonant calls that evoke a powerful, emotional response. These extended techniques bring a very rooted connection to strength and country and symbolize the Wayfinding journey through challenging and uncertain times.

—Chris Williams, 2025