Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Event Details

The Methodist Ladies’ College Jazz Orchestra (MLCJO) is made up exclusively of girls between the ages of 13 and 18 from Perth, Western Australia. They are all students at Methodist Ladies’ College -one of Australia’s leading independent schools for girls.

The MLCJO is the only all-girl school jazz orchestra to have appeared regularly at the Montreux International Jazz Festival in Switzerland, playing most recently in 2011, 2014 and 2017. They have performed at venues and festivals in Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia, Latvia, the UK and Italy -including Pavia-and regularly appear at events in Western Australia. Winners of numerous awards at West Australian eisteddfods, the MLCJO were hosts to the Western Australian Youth Jazz Orchestra’sYoung Women in Jazzinitiative in 2014 and 2015, with girls performing at leading Perth jazz venue, The Ellington Jazz Club. The ensemble plays a wide range of repertoire from jazz standards to contemporary Australian jazz works. Vocalists from the College regularly perform with the orchestra.

Recent repertoire has included classics by Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, Nat Adderley, Stevie Wonder and Herbie Hancock, along with works by Australian musicians Mace Francis and Daniel Thorne. The ensemble has increased the representation of female composers and arrangers, so that current programmes include the works of Jenna Cave, Ellen Kirkwood, Sally Greenaway and their own director, Gemma Farrell.

Gemma Farrell is a jazz saxophonist, composer and educator. She lectures in jazz studies at WAAPA and leads WAYJO's Young Women in Jazz program and is their education coordinator and assistant musical director.

Further information for this event is available online at the event's website

Featured artists

• Jazz/improvisation by Methodist Ladies’ College Jazz Orchestra (MLCJO)
• Music of Gemma Farrell
• Music of Mace Francis
• Music of Dan Thorne
• Music of Jenna Cave
• Music of Sally Greenaway
• Music of Ellen Kirkwood