Alice Dolphin

Alice Isobel Dolphin (née Organ; 1900–1985) was an Australian musician who played clarinet, saxophone, piano, and cornet.

Career Alice Dolphin was born in Cheltenham, Victoria. 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,

Between 1923 and 1926, Dolphin played in different musical groups around Melbourne, before moving to Sydney 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, Alice Dolphin's work as a musician supported her family with regular performances. and was also a member of Eve Rees and her Merrymakers, Her husband William had died in 1981. They had one son, Paul.

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