Happy tears were flowing in the packed out crowd at Sing Out Choir's first performance in front of an audience.
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Founder and dementia counsellor Anne Gemmell said the experience was "amazing" and went beyond her expectations.
With 75 performers on stage and Dubbo Regional Theatre and Convention Centre filled to capacity, the joy radiating from both the stage and the audience could be felt by all who attended.
"It was just incredible, there was so much joy and a lot of happy tears," Ms Gemmell said.
"You could see people were emotional, it was really magical and the response I've had from the public has been overwhelming, it really went beyond what I thought we would achieve."
The group which started nine months ago with 15 to 20 members, has flourished with more than 80 turning up each week to sing.
Some members wouldn't sing at all when they first joined, but they kept coming back and now they feel confident enough to sing a few songs.
"A gentleman at the concert got up at the end and did a solo all by himself and that was just unbelievable," Ms Gemmell said.
"He was a gentleman that came and didn't open his mouth for quite a long time and he stood up and sang a solo yesterday.
"We've changed people's lives. It's just remarkable, it really is."
With carers reaching out and saying they now feel a purpose to get out of bed, Ms Gemmell said she can feel the impact they have had not just on people living with dementia but their carers and loved ones.
But this impact couldn't happen without the incredible volunteers that help every single week.
"I couldn't pull off something of this size without the volunteers I have and Sharon and Camilla they're the backbone, because without the two of them it wouldn't be working, they are exceptional," she said.
With everyone coming together for the performance, Ms Gemmell said they have really become a family.
"There were 80 of us huddled in that back room before we went on stage yesterday and we had one couple that wanted to be with us and they'd lost their daughter the day before and they still wanted to be with us," she said.
"What we've built is a really strong community. There's just there's so much love in that room when we're all together.
"It's something I can't really explain. I knew my dream. I knew what I wanted to do. I knew what I wanted to put together and I thought, 'how will I ever do this?' But it's just worked."
The all-inclusive dementia choir first got off the ground after Ms Gemmell received a grant from Dugald Saunders and from the New South Government's COVID-19 Community Connection and Wellbeing Program.
"I could not have got this off the ground if it hadn't been for that backing," she said.
The choir isn't just for people living with dementia, but also their family, friends and carers.
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"I didn't want to limit it to a dementia choir, it went beyond that," she said.
"The people with dementia love that because they don't feel as though they've got that dementia hanging over them and that's really important for us in Dubbo.
"It takes away that isolation and it brings everybody out and everyone together."
Something Ms Gemmell is going to encourage at the choir is for more people to get up and give singing on the microphone a go.
"We do have quite a few that are pretty keen to put their hand up and say 'can I have a go?'... it's really good that people are feeling comfortable in our little world that they want to do that with us," she said.
Dancing is another aspect the choir hopes to build upon.
"We had one couple, a husband and wife and they dance all the time now and he's a fellow that when he first came, he was blank. He sat and didn't do a lot and now the two of them are waltzing every Tuesday together," she said.
"The wife says it's the only hour and a half she gets him back."
Ms Gemmell said it just shows what the choir is doing for the whole community.
"It's giving people purpose again," she said.
As for whether there will be another concert like this one, Ms Gemmell said "never say never".