By ANEEKA SIMONIS
A CHOIR that offers more than just a place to perform captivated a Pakenham audience with a melody of sounds last week.
Outlook’s All Together Choir, a group that inspires a community voice, performed to a packed audience at Cardinia Cultural Centre on Friday 12 June.
Though they had just eight weeks to prepare, choir members – young and old – managed to pull off a memorable performance enjoyed by all.
Choir member Shaunagh Stevens said the group was just as much about performance as it was socialising with others – taking in a wide cross-section of the community including all-abilities performers aged anywhere between their early twenties to 91 years of age.
“When I am with the choir, everyone focuses on my abilities, rather than on my disability. I can come here and feel safe and no one passes judgement on me,” she said.
The choir aims to create an inclusive, social space to enable people of all ages and abilities to get to know each other, according to fellow choir member Gail Shalliker-Patterson.
“It makes us all so happy, and we go out of our choir sessions bubbling over with energy,” she said.
