WA Youth Jazz Orchestra to mark 40th year with massive weekend of celebrations

WA Youth Jazz Orchestra (WAYJO) will mark their 40th year with a massive weekend of celebrations this month. Some of Perth’s biggest jazz names will join forces with future stars of the Australian jazz scene for two evenings of performances, special presentations and more on Friday, May 26 and Saturday, May 27 at Studio Underground and its foyer at the State Theatre Centre of WA.

“WAYJO has been at the forefront of forging professional jazz artists aged 14 to 25 since 1983 and holds a very special place in many WA musician’s hearts and memories,” said WAYJO Artistic Director & Musical Director, Mace Francis, band leader of the WAYJO Wednesday Night Orchestra, who first joined WAYJO as a guitarist in 2001.

“It is a place where they not only made great music in a great band but met their musician colleagues, future partners and lifelong friends. WAYJO alumni have had great success nationally and internationally and many are successful soloists but also still collaborate with each other often – proof of the impact of WAYJO’s vision to create a sense of family and enduring creative and supportive networks.”

“Our celebration even features three members of one family who have all been with WAYJO at one time. Please come and join us as we celebrate WAYJO’s 40-year history and look towards the future of jazz!”

The celebrations begin with a Gala performance on Friday evening at 7pm featuring all three WAYJO big bands alongside special guest alumni including Perth’s premier jazz vocalist, Libby Hammer, the versatile trombonist Catherine Noblet, the accomplished saxophonist Gemma Farrell, and the elegant vocalist Lucy Iffla.

Rapper Zero Emcee, who joined WAYJO in 2022 in a collaboration called Beats & Pieces that was a highlight of last year’s program, will join the WAYJO Wednesday Night Orchestra to add some hip hop flavour to the big band repertoire.

On the Friday night 40th Anniversary Concert all three bands – MinterEllison Monday Night Orchestra, St John of God Health Care Tuesday Night Orchestra, and WAYJO’s Wednesday Night Orchestra – will take to the stage to perform commissioned works, band and fan favourites, and classic big band jazz repertoire.

The celebrations continue on Saturday, May 27 from 4pm, when WAYJO transforms the State Theatre Centre’s Studio Underground and Foyer into a festival hub with a relaxed atmosphere of in-conversations, small group jazz ensembles, historic photo displays, projections of performances spanning four decades, alumni appearances, and big band performances.

WAYJO’s MinterEllison Monday Night Orchestra, the St John of God Health Care Tuesday Night Orchestra, and the Wednesday Night Orchestra will celebrate the greats playing classic big band jazz, music from the depths of the WAYJO library, and a line-up that traces jazz through to contemporary, translating be-bop to hip-hop. Saturday’s guest artists are saxophonist Jamie Oehlers, jazz vocalists Libby Hammer and Lucy Iffla, and rapper Zero Emcee.

WAYJO’s 40th Anniversary Concert goes down at Studio Underground, State Theatre Centre of WA, from 7:30pm-10:00pm on Friday, May 26, 2023. Tickets are on sale now. WAYJO’s 40th Anniversary Festival goes down at Studio Underground, State Theatre Centre of WA, from 4:00pm-10:00pm on Saturday, May 27. Tickets are on sale now.