On Saturday 12th November, the Sydney International Women’s Jazz Festival will head to the Powerhouse Museum for a day of music and discovery.

The day will start with a Women in Jazz talk, looking into the place of females in jazz and how they manage to find their way in an industry strongly marked by male control. To illustrate that fight, immediately following will be the screening of the award winning feature documentary “Girls In The Band”. This movie tells the poignant, untold stories of female jazz and big band instrumentalists and their fascinating, ground breaking journeys from the late 30’s to the present day.

These incredibly talented women endured sexism, racism and diminished opportunities for decades, yet continued to persevere, inspire and elevate their talents in a field that seldom welcomed them. After the screening, a talk will take place with the director Judy Chaikin in order to discuss the main issues and to realise how a new breed of gifted young women are taking their rightful place in the world of jazz, which can no longer deny their talents.

The screening will be followed by a unique musical instrumental tour presented by the museum curator Damian McDonald, in order to show some of the more beautiful and strange musical instrument from the Powerhouse Museum collection. This collection includes rare items such as Ed Kuepper’s guitar or an early 20th century Photoplayer that supplied the music for the silent movie era.

The day will finish with a free performance by the Young Women’s Jazz Orchestra, a dynamic 17-piece jazz orchestra for talented women aged 15-21 years. This ensemble will play Australian compositions, permitting young talent to make their first steps in the world of music. It’s the perfect occasion to discover the future of Australian Jazz.

This event is a way to promote and rethink gender equality in music as well as discover and experience the future and the past of Australian jazz music.

What: Jazz at the Powerhouse 

When: Saturday 12th November at 10:15am

Where: Powerhouse Museum 500 Harris Street

To find out more CLICK HERE