WACO with guide dog Gidgee.
Camera IconWACO with guide dog Gidgee. Credit: Supplied/To Dream a Story

Orchestra’s sights on charity

Kaylee MartinSouthern Gazette

The not-for-profit community-led orchestra has performed annually since 2008, raising more than $90,000 for Australian charities.

WACO creative director and founder Samuel Parry said he believed music was universal in its power to speak with people of all abilities.

“Guide Dogs WA has always been at the top of our list as a potential concert partner,” he said. “Their work in training the wonderful animals to help people who are blind or vision impaired is something we believe needs more recognition.

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“They have a long and important history in the WA community and we believe our objective of changing people’s lives through work aligns very closely.”

The full-sized orchestra and choir have a range of talented students, amateur and professional musicians who gather each summer to prepare a concert program.

“Many of our concert-goers can’t believe the sound we create is made from such a diverse group of musicians, many of whom are either in school or university,” Mr Parry said.

“Some of our repertoire is very challenging and we’re always eager to push the boundary of our skills to reach that next level of performance.”

It takes two years and costs more than $35,000 to train a guide dog and Guide Dogs WA is reliant on community support to fund the training program. Visit www.waco.org.au.