WAYJO - West Australian Youth Jazz Orchestra


	About wayjo

The WA Youth Jazz Orchestra (WAYJO)

Patrons: James Morrison, Daryl Somers, Don Burrows and Frank Foster

" The work that WAYJO is doing is of enormous importance to the future of improvised music in Australia. "
Paul Grabowsky - Australian Art Orchestra

The WA Youth Jazz Orchestra under the talented Artistic Team of Graeme Lyall AM, James Morrison, John Morrison, Joe Chindamo, Mace Francis and Daryl Somers is the only organisation in Australia with the national and international reputation to bring together the best and most talented young Australian Jazz musicians. WAYJO has the mission to encourage, develop and educate young musicians in the pursuit of excellence in orchestral Jazz and Improvised music. To extend the art and appreciation of Jazz and Improvised music within the wider community.

Formed in 1983, The WA Youth Jazz Orchestra Association (Inc.) has earned a national and international reputation as the best youth jazz orchestra in Australia.

In October 1999 the legendary Frank Foster, former leader of the Count Basie Orchestra became a WAYJO patron. He joins internationally recognised musicians James Morrison, Don Burrows and Daryl Somers.

The WA Youth Jazz Orchestra performed at the International Association of Jazz Educators annual Conference that was held in New York on January 11-14, 2006. This conference is recognized as the world's largest jazz gathering, with over 8,000 Jazz musicians, record executives, exhibitors, media, educators and enthusiasts attended the conference. WAYJO’s performance received outstanding reviews with US radio stations asking for WAYJO music to play and US high schools asking the young composers to purchase their music.

The Orchestra is acknowledged as a role model for talented young Australians who are encouraged to create their own music and practice their craft. Over the past two decades WAYJO has provided scope for hundreds of outstanding West Australian musicians to develop their musical talents. As a direct result, many such as Jamie Oehlers (winner of the Saxophone competition at the Montreux Jazz Competition in 2003), Matthew Jodrell and Callum G’Froerer (the only Australians to win the prestigious Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellowship) have gone on to achieve international and national acclaim.

WAYJO has a training program dedicated to educating young musicians and providing the best training available in Australia in Big Band and show production music. These skills are vital for musicians to obtain work in the industry and for upcoming teachers to develop the skills needed to lead orchestras and ensembles in a school environment. WAYJO currently has three bands. The Composers Ensemble totals 36 young people aged between 14 and 25 years. This Group performs original music written by composers from within the Orchestra and well-known standards. The Big Band and Swing Band perform the big band standards Jazz lovers have come to expect from WAYJO.

WAYJO also has a program dedicated to developing composition and arranging skills, in young Musicians. WAYJO provides opportunities for young musicians including providing access to bands and orchestras for these young composers to practice their skills. This program is supervised by Graeme Lyall AM and Mace Francis. Graeme has been the Winner of the Best Arrangement at Yamaha International Song Festival 4 times, composed television themes, and was the winner of the Australian Writers and Art Directors Guild Award for the Best Music for a Television Commercial (Hallmark Greeting Cards) in 1987. Mace started as a pupil of Graeme’s but by the age of 25 had won two international composition awards. Mace is the Musical Director of the prestigious Composers Ensemble. Mace has a varied career including composing music for the short film Whipping Boy. Commissions including Visioni dall'australia (Visions from Australia) a collaboration with Glenn Romanis (didgeridoo) - performed in Bra (Italy), Chinese Whispers, The Unpopular Song Book and WAYJO’s concert program in New York City 2006.

WAYJO seeks to provide opportunities for all young people to hear the jazz genre of music performed by their peers and National guest artists of note. The WA Youth Jazz Orchestra has a national reputation as the best Youth Jazz Orchestra in Australia. WAYJO is the only youth jazz orchestra that James Morrison will perform with for corporate performances. David Campbell, Grace Knight and Emma Pask (James Morrison’s vocalist) have given their repertoire to WAYJO as their preferred Big Band in WA if the budget will not allow their own bands to be brought over. Rhonda Burchmore also requests WAYJO as her band of preference when she works in WA. WAYJO has performed with many guest artists in WA including Todd McKinney. That these national performers prefer WAYJO over professional bands in Perth says much about the quality of WAYJO training and musicians.

Over the years WAYJO has performed with some of the world’s great Jazz artists including….
Australia
Don Burrows
James Morrison
Daryl Somers
Joe Chindamo
Grace Knight
Rhonda Burchmore
Todd McKinney
Rolf Harris
Paul Grabowsky
Emma Pask
David Campbell

USA
Frank Foster (former leader of the Count Basic Orchestra)
Ray Charles
Ernie Watts
Dionne Warwick
Red Rodney
Phil Wilson
Jim McNeely
Toshiko Akiyoshi

UK
Ronnie Scott

WAYJO is a registered charity and a not for profit organization listed on the Register of Cultural Organizations dedicated to the development of the musical talent of our youth. WAYJO is administered by an Honorary Board of Management.

The WA Youth Jazz Orchestra is funded almost entirely from the State Government (Department of Culture and the Arts and Healthway) and the Federal Government (Australia Council). This outstanding youth orchestra also relies on revenue from tax deductible donations, performances and membership subscriptions.

By involving young people in the arts you help to develop the cultural landscape for today and for the future. By bringing the arts to young people you develop the arts culture in a way that remains long after school years are finished. At WAYJO we believe that promoting art performed by young people is creating a role model that says, aspire to being your best and see that Perth young people can and do share a stage with the high profile performers that you see on TV.

Email: admin@wayjo.com