Western Australian Charity Orchestra
Encyclopedia
Western Australian Charity Orchestra (WACO) is a symphony orchestra and SATB
chorus founded recently in Perth
, Western Australia
. The ensemble is made up of amateur musicians (mainly students from tertiary, secondary and primary institutions) and puts on concerts to help fundraise for local charities and organisations. It is run by a committee consisting mostly of students from UWA
, WAAPA
and local high schools.
. It was put together not only to help the local communities and organisations, but to change the way people think of musicians. The idea was to prove that musicians have the ability to help people and to really make a difference in their community. It's also an opportunity for students to constructively spend their holiday time working towards being better musicians. On the 4th of February 2008 they organisation performed their inaugural concert, which was held at the Perth Concert Hall. Through donations and ticket sales inspired by this event, the organisation was able to raise $8,600AU to the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation. The 2009 concert raised a record amount of $15,000AU, which on the night was decided to be split between PMHF and the Victorian Bushfires Appeal.
The Chorus
was made up of over 80 members, divided into soprano
, alto
, tenor
and bass.
SATB
In music, SATB is an initialism for soprano, alto, tenor, bass, defining the voices required by a chorus or choir to perform a particular musical work...
chorus founded recently in Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. The ensemble is made up of amateur musicians (mainly students from tertiary, secondary and primary institutions) and puts on concerts to help fundraise for local charities and organisations. It is run by a committee consisting mostly of students from UWA
University of Western Australia
The University of Western Australia was established by an Act of the Western Australian Parliament in February 1911, and began teaching students for the first time in 1913. It is the oldest university in the state of Western Australia and the only university in the state to be a member of the...
, WAAPA
Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts
The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts , Edith Cowan University was established in 1980 to provide performing arts tuition comparable to the highest calibre of national and international training benchmarks to be able to meet industry needs around the globe.The school is located in the...
and local high schools.
Background
The ensemble was founded by Samuel Parry, a student at WAAPAWestern Australian Academy of Performing Arts
The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts , Edith Cowan University was established in 1980 to provide performing arts tuition comparable to the highest calibre of national and international training benchmarks to be able to meet industry needs around the globe.The school is located in the...
. It was put together not only to help the local communities and organisations, but to change the way people think of musicians. The idea was to prove that musicians have the ability to help people and to really make a difference in their community. It's also an opportunity for students to constructively spend their holiday time working towards being better musicians. On the 4th of February 2008 they organisation performed their inaugural concert, which was held at the Perth Concert Hall. Through donations and ticket sales inspired by this event, the organisation was able to raise $8,600AU to the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation. The 2009 concert raised a record amount of $15,000AU, which on the night was decided to be split between PMHF and the Victorian Bushfires Appeal.
Instrumentation and Players
The WACO is a very large orchestra (with over 160 members in the February 2008 concert), and has a very wide instrumentation. For the concert on the 4th of February 2008, the orchestra contained over 80 musicians, consisting of:The Chorus
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
was made up of over 80 members, divided into soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
, alto
Alto
Alto is a musical term, derived from the Latin word altus, meaning "high" in Italian, that has several possible interpretations.When designating instruments, "alto" frequently refers to a member of an instrumental family that has the second highest range, below that of the treble or soprano. Hence,...
, tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
and bass.
2008 Repertoire
In their last concert on the 4th of February 2008 at the Perth Concert Hall, the orchestra and choir performed 11 pieces. These were:- 'Espana' by Emmanuel Chabrier
- 'Mars, the bringer of war' by Gustav Holst
- 'Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks' by Modest Mussorgsky/Maurice Ravel
- Prelude to 'The afternoon of the Faune' by Debussy
- 'O Fortuna' and 'Fortuna Plango Vulnera' by Carl Orff
- 'Habanera' from 'Carmen' by Georges Bizet
- 'God so Loved the World' by John Stainer
- 'Symphony no. 40-1st Mvt' By Mozart
- 'Polevetsian dances' from 'Prince Igor' by Alexander Borodin
- 'Rhapsody in Blue' by George Gershwin
- 'Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity' by Gustav Holst
External links
- http://www.2525productions.com/waco - The Western Australian Charity Orchestra's Website
- http://www.pmhfoundation.com/ - The Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation's Website
- http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Western-Australian-Charity-Orchestra/14635115966 - WACO on Facebook