Alice Isobel Dolphin (
née
The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...
Organ; 1900–1985) was an Australian musician who played clarinet, saxophone, piano, and cornet.
Career
Alice Dolphin was born in
Cheltenham, Victoria
Cheltenham is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 18 km south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the Cities of City of Bayside, Bayside and City o ...
. Her family were musicians and she learnt to play piano as a child, performing in public for the first time around the age of 10, when she filled in on organ at a church. During her teens she began her professional career as a musician, performing at picture theatre matinees,
and gained press attention by playing the piano and cornet simultaneously, accompanying her own solos.
Between 1923 and 1926, Dolphin played in different musical groups around
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
, before moving to
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
to perform as a duo with
Elsa Lewis. After two years, Dolphin returned to Melbourne with violin maker
William Edward Dolphin where they married.
When
Thelma Ready started her all-girl orchestra, she hired Alice Dolphin as a saxophonist. Formed in 1928, The Thelma Ready Orchestra made regular appearances on radio, played in hotels around Melbourne and is considered "Australia's first all-girl dance band".
During the
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
, Alice Dolphin's work as a musician supported her family with regular performances.
She had her own group, the Alice Dolphin Orchestra in the 1930s,
and was also a member of Eve Rees and her Merrymakers,
The Hollywood Redheads, and The Marion Lightfoot Orchestra.
She was also a regular on ''The Minstrel Show'' broadcast over radio station
3DB
Once retired, she took to writing, and her collection of essays, musical compositions, pantomimes, poems, and prose fiction are held by the
Australian Performing Arts Collection
The Australian Performing Arts Collection at Arts Centre Melbourne, formerly known as Performing Arts Museum (PAM), is the largest specialist performing arts collection in Australia, with over 780,000 items relating to the history of circus, danc ...
.
Alice Dolphin died in 1985, aged 84.
Her husband William had died in 1981. They had one son, Paul.
Gallery
File:Thelma Ready's Orchestra c1929.jpg, Thelma Ready's Orchestra on stage at the Grill Room, Hotel Australia c1929. Musicians include: Lilian Stender, Kath McCall, Thelma Ready, Alice Organ/Dolphin, and Lena Sturrock.
File:Eve Rees' Merrymakers at the Mayoral Ball held at Caulfield Town Hall (date unknown).tif, Eve Rees' Merrymakers at the Mayoral Ball held at Caulfield Town Hall. Musicians include: Eve Rees, Gwen Mitchell, Stella Funston, Lorna Quon, Alma Quon, Alice Dolphin, and Grace Funston.
File:Alice Dolphin Orchestra c1935.jpg, Alice Dolphin Orchestra performing in the dining room at Foy and Gibson c1935. Musicians include: Joyce Smith, Alice Dolphin, Molly Byron, Phyllis Smith and Marj Brown. Photograph by C.J. Frazer.
Further reading
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dolphin, Alice
1900 births
1985 deaths
Australian musicians