THE UNITED WOMEN'S ORCHESTRA

- the bandleaders: Christina Fuchs & Hazel Leach - the musicians -
CD's: our first CD - The Blue One - Virgo Supercluster -
press reviews - concert listings - contact info- news - links
- Index -

About the band

In September 1992 a series of bigband-workshops was set up under the auspices of "Frauen machen Musik e.V", a women's organisation in Frankfurt, Germany. Out of this came The UNITED WOMEN'S ORCHESTRA, founded by eighteen musicians from four different countries (Germany, Holland, the USA and England). Since then the UWO has established itself as one of the few European bigbands playing new music, and as one of the few all-women bigbands in Europe with an original repertoire. Since the premiere during the "European Women in Music Congress" in 1994 the band has appeared regularly in concert and at festivals in Germany and Holland.The first CD was released in March 1996, receiving good reviews in the international jazz media.

Led by Christina Fuchs (Cologne, Germany ) and Hazel Leach, (Arnhem, The Netherlands) the band plays an exclusively original repertoire, composed by the two bandleaders. Their differing backgrounds provide for a wide variety of musical styles- from modern jazz and free improvisation to folk melody and from traditional bigband swing to contemporary rhythms.
The collective approach of the band is very much in evidence during live concerts: each member makes her own personal contribution to the performance. The results are clearly visible on stage in the total involvement and obvious enjoyment of the players, infecting audiences with the sheer fun of it.

The second CD "The Blue One" was released in March 1999, again with good reviews (read them on The Blue One page!)
In the last 2 years both leaders have gained international recognition by winning international composition awards: "Mabel's Birthday" (Leach) and "Serenade for Leonie" (Fuchs) in the Julius Hemphill Awards (USA), "Cerasarda" (Leach) in the Blue Note "Scrivere in Jazz" competition on Sardinia.

The third CD "Virgo Supercluster" is a co-production with the WDR (German TV/radio), featuring Ingrid Jensen as guest soloist (there's a link to her website here below). Released in November 2002, the details and reviews are on the "Virgo Supercluster" page.

Latest....

In 2007 we'll be celebrating our 15th birthday, so concerts this year will have a particularly festive atmosphere.. come and join the party!

You're welcome to join our network!

Recent reviews

Fired-up improvisations: "The United Women's Orchestra" in Lagerhalle.

... The audience was soon aware that this was an extraordinary ensemble with glittering soloists. The performance was characterized by improvisation and the joy of playing, never dwelling on rigid structures. And whoever heard Susanne Riemer's great trumpetsolo in the very first piece joined the enthusiasts in the audience, applauding generously.
Whether mysteriously exotic or funky, minimalist, expressive, chambermusic-like or swinging, these women have mastered their craft without losing emotional direction...Osnabrück N.O.Z.

Leverkusener Jazztage

Every seat in the house was taken when "The United Women's Orchestra" came on stage on Friday evening. What the audience heard was complex, thru'composed and extremely diverse jazz.. Attentive and quiet, they listened to the varied colours and entered a completely new world of sound: a mixture of traditional bigband style, modern jazz, experimental music and freeform improvisation.. The solos gave the players the benefit of individual freedom, but one never had the feeling of experiencing cliché-ridden jazz. On the contrary: the countless musical ideas were fitted into a homogenous, rounded sound.. Soft pastels, sound pictures, romantic colours, here and there a bit of groove and swing. The audience were captured in a dream.. The final note sounded after more than two hours and they were happy to have experienced such an absorbing concert... Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger.
More reviews

Contact info

Hazel Leach
Boulevard Heuvelink 194, 6828 KX Arnhem, The Netherlands
tel/fax ++31-26-3512934
e-mail:hleach@xs4all.nl

Christina Fuchs
LuxemburgerStr. 311-313, 50939 Cologne, Germany
tel/fax: ++49-221-881392
e-mail:cfuchs@angel.de

Other interesting sites..

Bigband sites
The Bigbands Database Welcome Page	Mainly Big Band .. charts, CD's & reviews
Bigbands in Germany	Maria Schneider CD's, charts and much more...

others...
Jazz Links International- The JazzPages	draai om je oren. Dutch jazz e-magazine
Italian Jazz Musicians ..with lots of international links	The Jazz Server .. jazz in the Netherlands
Jazz Institute Darmstadt	All About Jazz
Kind of Blue	Europe Jazz Network
Jazz Grrls: a list of Jazz Women on the Web	Ingrid Jensen featured with us on "Virgo Supercluster"
Global Music Network e-magazine with good jazz articles

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