Sarah Oliver
A Bacchus Marsh local and well-known member of the music community in the west has been recognised in the Australia Day honours.
Andrew Houston, 51, has been awarded the medal of the Order of Australia for his commitment to servicing the community through music.
Mr Houston said the award has come as a bit of a shock.
“I wasn’t expecting it,” he said.
“I’ve always been more about a team and working together.
“It’s nice to be recognised for what I’ve done but I think the [music] groups…have enabled me to do that.”
Mr Houston has been involved with the Western Region Concert Band (WRCB) since 1991 where he started as a musician.
Through that process, in 2000, he became the music director and manager of the band.
“It has been a lot of work over many years. My focus has always been on trying to get music into the community and encourage people to…continue their passion and their hobby,” he said.
The band has since played with well-known artists such as James Morrison, Leo Sayer and Christine Anu.
He then helped to establish the band’s sister choir, SingWest, in 2004.
Mr Houston has also been recognised within the group through winning several Phil Thorn awards which are “not so much for musicianship but for going above and beyond”.
Despite being heavily affected by COVID, Mr Houston has continued to engage with his music community and hopes life will return to normal, including touring around the country and internationally.
“I think with music these days you have to be quite diverse in what you’re doing…it’s pretty tricky to do the one thing and you’re lucky if you can do that as a job.”
