Karen Richards – JWA co-founder
Karen Richards brought to Jazz Workshop Australia something rare: the organisational expertise, financial commitment, and sheer drive to turn a vision into reality. As co-founder and General Manager of JWA from its founding in 2007 until her retirement in 2024, Karen was the backbone of the business — and in the early years, very much its public face.
Karen’s professional background gave JWA an extraordinary foundation. With over twenty years of experience as an internationally acclaimed producer and creative director of major events, she knew how to make big things happen. Events don’t get much bigger than the opening and closing ceremonies of the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games, for which Karen was Director of Ceremonies. She is regarded as one of Australia’s leading large-scale event organisers, and has worked for many high-profile clients both as a freelance consultant and in partnership with Ric Birch through their former company Spectac.
Karen has worked with numerous musicians, actors and politicians including Kylie Minogue, Peter Allen, Yothu Yindi, Renee Geyer, Michael Parkinson, Clive James, Bryan Brown, Jack Thompson, Rolf Harris, Jimmy Barnes, Billy Thorpe, Tim Fischer (former Deputy Prime Minister) and Sir William Deane (former Governor General).
Some of Karen’s production credits include:
- Director of Ceremonies, Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games
- Production manager 1982 XII Commonwealth Games, Brisbane opening and closing ceremonies
- Producer Countdown Awards
- Production manager JJJ 10th Anniversary concert at Goat Island
- Producer Australian Film Institute Awards
- Ceremony Producer Sydney Showground Opening, 1998
- Flag Handover Ceremony Producer Atlanta 1996 Paralympic Games
- Ceremony Producer World Youth Soccer Championships FIFA/Coca Cola Cup, 1993
- Consultant Athens 2004 Paralympic Games and Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games
- Producer Fashion Parades 1990 Australian Wool Corporation
- Executive Producer Fleece to Fashion, television documentary
- Producer Australian Tourism Awards, 1988
- Producer Bicentennial Wool Collection, 1988
- Entertainment Consultant and Producer World Expo 88
- Production Manager Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 1983–1985
- Entertainment Consultant, Sydney Olympic Park Authority, 2001
Karen first worked with Saul Richardson when her sons attended North Sydney Boys’ High School, where Saul led the jazz program. Together they produced international big band tours for the school, and quickly discovered they made a formidable team. When changes to the school’s instrumental music program prompted Saul to seek a new home for his teaching, Karen did far more than help find a space — she co-signed the lease, financed the fitout, and helped build the first Jazz Workshop at Atchison Street, St Leonards. JWA opened in late 2007.
The early years demanded everything both founders had. Karen managed enrolments, looked after families, handled the bookkeeping, and worked with JWA’s accountant to keep the business on solid ground — freeing Saul to focus on teaching and building the educational programs. When JWA outgrew its original studio and moved to the first floor of the same building, Karen again financed the fitout. She was essential at every stage.
Beyond the school itself, Karen produced three international music tours with JWA, taking student bands to Barbados, Miami, New York, Atlanta, and Los Angeles — experiences that remain among the most memorable in the school’s history.
When JWA moved to its current purpose-built home on Chandos Street in June 2021, it walked straight into a three-month Covid lockdown. During 106 days of online teaching and rehearsing, Karen held the business together — managing finances, administration, and communications with families through an extraordinarily difficult period.
Over her final years with JWA, Karen gradually stepped back from the day-to-day, remaining essential behind the scenes while the business found its feet under new leadership. She formally retired from JWA at the end of the 2023–24 financial year.
Karen was integral to the founding and lasting success of Jazz Workshop Australia. She made it possible to bring a shared vision for a better approach to jazz education to life — and to keep it alive through the challenges that followed. JWA would not exist without her.