The Footscray Gypsy Orchestra

2011 to now!

Originally formed by Jen Hawley, The FGO is a world music community orchestra based in Footscray in the western suburbs of Melbourne with a repertoire focusing on klezmer, gypsy, romantic and balkan music.

The Footscray Gypsies rehearse every second Tuesday night from 7.00 to 10.00pm. Now led by Terry Cole.

Click here for more info.

Supporting Women in Blues

2014 to 2016

This was a very successsful ‘Women in Blues’ project for Melbourne players and singers interested in blues music. 

The project was run by Jen Hawley – respected guitarist/singer, Michelle Johns, keyboardist, Diane Forster (MBAS committee) and supported by the Melbourne Blues Appreciation Society, sharing a common personal passion to foster and develop increased opportunities for women in our music community.

Each quarterly meeting had a different guest musician from the Blues scene to perform as a feature artist and also provide mentoring.  Our stage was graced by amazing mentors: Kelly Auty, Fiona Boyes, Kerri Simson, community radio announcers and record producers, to name a few.  The evenings also enjoyed a blues choir run by Kelly Auty and an inclusive jam run by Jen Hawley and Michelle Johns.