Joséphine’s Garden: Le Bar 2025
Dates
Fridays until 11 April 2025 | 6pm – 8.30pm
Coming up
Friday 14 March
Voudou Zazou | Returning favourites turn on swing gypsy jazz with a touch of musical voodoo!
Includes admission to Empress Joséphine's Garden experience
Standard | $25
Concession | $22.50
Groups 6+ | $22.50
Membership
Friend Members receive 15% off ticket pricing for this event.
Age
Ages 18+ only
Site access information
WA Maritime Museum is mostly accessible, excluding tours aboard the HMAS Ovens. Call 1300 134 081 for assistance. More about accessibility and amenities >
Step into a night of blooms and beats as Le Bar returns in 2025!
With toe-tapping gypsy jazz, soulful chanteuses and more, spend a relaxing Friday night at Le Bar as Empress Joséphine’s Garden heads into an autumn mood.
For nine nights we are bringing together a program of live performances full of Parisian glamour and passion as we take a French-inspired musical journey, influenced by some legendary ladies.
Get a taste of France every Friday night with a unique twist each week! Embrace a season of Friday night soirées where the allure of French culture meets the magic of gardens after dark.
Head to our pop-up Glasshouse Bar before entering the stunning 360-degree digital experience, Empress Joséphine’s Garden.
Soak in the vibrant garden party atmosphere and try your hand at our Sketching Salon, where you can capture the beauty of still life and taxidermied specimens using our camera lucida optical devices, a clever invention helping even novice sketchers produce masterpieces!
Bring your friends or a special someone for a vibrant Friday night soirée!
Feeling peckish?
Add flavour to your evening with a pre-purchased cheese platter for two, which can be added when you book your ticket.
- Option One | $36:
Selection of French Cheeses, Emu & Pepperberry Pâté, Saucisson, Local Fresh Fruits, Quandong Chutney & Crusty Breads
- Option Two (Vegetarian) | $36:
Selection of French Cheeses, Mushroom Pâté, Vegetarian Terrine, Local Fresh Fruits, Quandong Chutney & Crusty Breads
Note: Sales for pre-purchased platters end 3 days prior to the event for catering purposes (i.e., Tuesday 5pm). Regrettably, dietary requirements can not be accommodated.
Coming up next
6pm – 8.30pm | Returning favourites to Le Bar in 2025, this quartet take its name from the sharply-dressed French jazz fans of the 40s - the Zazou... these three guys and a gal draw inspiration from legendary guitarist Django Reinhardt and add a touch of their musical voodoo. Voudou Zazou is infectious and entertaining - and it's hard not to have a good time when they're swingin' it out!
Voudou Zazou
Featuring acoustic guitar and double bass, joined by the quintessentially French accordion and delightful vocals of Coo Jarvis - the quartet's happy sounds are equally at home in Perth’s small bars, or jazz rooms like the Ellington and bigger festival stages. They played the inaugural WA Gypsy Jazz festival in 2019 and frequently perform at French gatherings such as the Bonjour Festival and Bastille Day events.
Schedule
6pm Doors open. Voudou Zazou performance 1 begins
6.15pm Session 1 Empress Joséphine’s Garden begins
6.30pm Voudou Zazou performance 2 begins
7pm Session 2 Empress Joséphine’s Garden begins
7.30pm Voudou Zazou performance 3 begins
7.45pm Session 3 Empress Joséphine’s Garden begins
8.20pm Last drinks
8.30pm Event close
6pm – 8.30pm | Jessie Gordon is bringing the sound of Paris to Perth. This dazzling show will take you on a journey to discovering the music, the heart and soul of Paris. With songs from Edith Piaf, Django Reinhardt, Sidney Bechet and many more who lived and loved in Paris in the early 20th Century, this chanteuse will charm and enthral you, just like the city herself.
Jessie Gordon
Jessie is a very sun-shy red-headed jazz singer from Perth who enjoys swing music, dancing in her kitchen to Otis Redding, eating cheese at any given opportunity and singing in the shower and every other (shaded) venue. Her main musical passions are jazz, blues and roots music. She started singing professionally at the age of 15 and has fronted big bands, jazz duos and every sized band in between. Jessie has toured Australia, America, Southeast Asia, Germany, France, Spain, Poland and the UK. She is also a 20 time Fringe World Music and Cabaret Award winner and has also recorded nine albums with various collaborating musicians between 2017 and 2021.
6pm – 8.30pm | This stylish Perth Gypsy Jazz band explores a modern variant of the 1930s Manouche inspired gypsy sound, with the music being heavily influenced by the Hot Club of France, as well as the traditional jazz and folk music of Edith Piaf with a European gypsy flavour. The players range across gypsy guitar, piano accordion and saxophone with additions of drums, trumpet and ukulele within the ensemble. With high energy and virtuosic skill, you will dig into the global rhythms of this music for passionate lovers.
Major Swing Project
Major Swing Project has a very diverse world-music-inspired repertoire exploring an array of swing, gypsy jazz, folk, country & western, French ballads in an eclectic mix of acoustic styles, reggae and their very own original compositions, all performed with dazzling virtuosity and passion that is intrinsic to the Gypsy tradition.
6pm – 8.30pm | Be transported into a Parisian jazz club for an enchanting show presented by Catherine Summers and her band. Come and get lost in the magic of yesteryear in Paris, featuring performances of French classics such as Edith Piaf’s ‘Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien’, ‘La Vie En Rose’, ‘Milord’ and Charles Trenet’s ‘Que Reste-t-Ii’ plus many more songs reminiscent of the era, such as Ella Fitzgerald’s rendition of ‘April in Paris’. Presented to you by a group of exceptionally talented musicians, helmed by songstress Catherine Summers, who weaves through the history of this era as through laneways in Paris. Summers presents anecdotes and stories from the time with warmth, humour, and a candour which sees the audience leaving feeling as if they are old friends.
Catherine Summers
Perth jazz singer and bandleader Catherine Summers is widely known as a ‘delight to watch’. She’s acclaimed for her unique dulcet, versatile voice and her down-to-earth, engaging stage presence. The UK-born Australian singer burst onto the music scene in 2009 and has since established herself as one of the city’s most in-demand performers - a performer of choice at top venues, festivals and high-end functions. Catherine has an impressive career with many accolades and great reviews. She continues to be a sell-out artist and has a versatility and charisma unlike any other. With the accompaniment of some of Perth's most treasured musicians, every performance is a special one.
6pm - 8.30pm | Revel in the romance and Regency-modern stylings of the music of Bridgerton with Perth Symphony Orchestra's luscious strings and a quartet dressed to impress! Beloved and well-known contemporary pop songs are reinvented with a Regency make-over, as the quartet reveals the romantic heart of the garden with moments of musical majesty. Wear your fabulous florals and join us for elevated pop classics in Le Bar’s final episode.
Perth Symphony Orchestra
Perth Symphony was founded in 2011 by violist, Bourby Webster, who was encouraged by many of WA’s outstanding classical players to start an orchestra. The opportunity to create an infinite number of magical concerts – with WA as the backdrop – along with the need to showcase the incredible talent being nurtured in the state meant a new orchestra for WA was not just an opportunity, but an imperative.
Perth Symphony quickly became known as "the orchestra that breaks the rules”, redefining the orchestral music experience by playing in places and spaces you’d never expect, from sheds to warehouses and art deco cinemas to aeroplane hangars! The other key difference was the music – works from Mozart to Metallica, Björk to Beethoven and everything in between. By taking the orchestra out of the concert hall and into communities across Western Australia, Perth Symphony has performed for more than 600,000 people. Unique amongst orchestras, this group are powered by the belief that music has the ability to move and inspire people from all cultures and walks of life. They continue to challenge traditions and create powerful, compelling performances.
Past events
6pm - 10pm (extended session)
Enjoy the risqué Parisian traditions and glamorous feather fans dancers of the Moulin Rouge with Sugar Blue Burlesque, and delight to French vibes with DJ G*Rey.
Please note that the Sugar Blue Burlesque performance contains some nudity.
6pm - 8.30pm | Get your pop glamour fix with soulful vocal stylings from Queency (duo).
Queency is a Perth-based singer-songwriter originally from Reunion Island. Testaments to his tropical roots and infectious passion, Queency’s compositions and live performances can be sweet or sour, deep or light, soft or energetic. All share the same commonality though: they come from the soul and speak to the soul, generating a range of emotions within anyone listening with their heart.
6pm - 8.30pm | Enjoy live drawing demonstration by illustrator Catherine Scartaccini and groove to the liquid vinyl luxury of Ningaloo Records DJ set.
Catherine Scartaccini has a creative obsession with illustration and a passion for animals with an honours degree in zoology and anatomy at the University of Western Australia. Though studying animals using the scientific method, Catherine has recently started incorporating this into her drawings. She has started botanical illustration and her craft blends accurate, precise observation expressed in the medium of art.
Ningaloo Records is the branded vinyl record collection and space activation service of Fremantle based DJ and dance music enthusiast Josh Grainger. Josh can be found passionately presenting educational dance floors every weekend, exploring obscurities whilst ever reading the room. Expect deep crates for deep pleasures; connecting balearic oddities, Mediterranean disco, Afro gems, leftfield boogie, hard jazz bops, Latin fire, future sambas and soul strokin'-finger pointin' NYC house!
6pm - 8.30pm | Enjoy the best of chanson d’amour and renowned French songs with live accordion performance by Nikki Dagostino, also known as Little Miss Squeezebox.
Nikki Dagostino is widely recognised as one of Australia’s most entertaining female Accordionists. Keeping the rare art alive and educating souls with the world sounds of the Piano Accordion. Born in Perth, Western Australia amongst Italian Heritage, she began studying Classical piano at age 9 and discovered the unique sound of the piano accordion at age eleven. From a young age Nikki Dagostino developed a deep passion for music with a strong love for performing and teaching music. Nikki performs and tours around the world.
6pm - 8.30pm | Enjoy an illustrated talk on the aesthetics of French Empire style with fashion historian and author of How To Read A Dress, Dr Lydia Edwards and the sexy jazz inflections of keyboard legend Thierryno Gangou.
Dr Lydia Edwards is a fashion historian, author living and working in Perth, Western Australia. She is a lecturer at ECU and WAAPA and is the creator of Bloomsbury’s How to Read a Dress series. Her next book, How to Read a Wedding Dress, will be out in early 2025, followed by Costumes, Period dramas and their Audiences: 19th Century to the Present (Routledge) in 2026.
Thierryno Gangou is a pianist, keyboardist, singer, composer and arranger based in Western Australia. With extensive experience locally and internationally, Thierryno performs solo or with a range of bands. Thierryno started the piano at the age of seven. He has toured with the WAMI Award winning band “Grace Barbe Afro Kreol” at the Byron Bay Blues and Roots Festival.
Schedule
- 6pm | Doors open
- 6pm | Thierryno performance
- 6.15pm | Session 1 Empress Joséphine’s Garden experience
- 6.15pm | Talk by Dr Lydia Edwards
- 7pm | Session 2 Empress Joséphine’s Garden experience
- 7pm | Talk by Dr Lydia Edwards (repeat)
- 7.30pm | Thierryno performance
- 7.45pm | Session 3 Empress Joséphine’s Garden experience
- 8.30pm | Event close
6pm - 8.30pm | Get your inner daft punk rockin’ with contemporary tunes from AQUILA string quartet.
Aquila is a classically trained, finely tuned string quartet band that features some of Perth’s most prestigious musicians – bonded by a passion for performance. The members of Aquila have spent most of their lives refining their chops on the likes of Bach, Beethoven and Mozart – only listening to and playing more contemporary music as a fan or as a hired gun, never truly exploring the potential of applying their passion to the greatest songs written this side of the millennia.
Schedule
- 6pm | Doors open
- 6.15pm | Session 1 Empress Joséphine’s Garden experience
- 6.30pm | AQUILA Quartet performance 1
- 7pm | Session 2 Empress Joséphine’s Garden experience
- 7.40pm | AQUILA Quartet performance 2
- 7.45pm | Session 3 Empress Joséphine’s Garden experience
- 8.30pm | Event close
6pm - 8.30pm | Jazz ensemble Voudou-Zazou’s bold and sultry notes will give you vintage swing vibes from the classic 20s and 30s Paris.
VOUDOU ZAZOU take their name from the sharply-dressed French jazz fans of the 40s - the Zazou! These three guys and a gal draw inspiration from legendary guitarist Django Reinhardt and add a touch of their own musical voodoo. Featuring acoustic guitar and double bass, joined by the quintessentially French accordion and delightful vocals of Coo Jarvis. They are infectious and entertaining - and it's very hard not to have a good time when they're swingin' it out!
6pm - 8.30pm | DJ Rok Riley digs out some kooky, funky and chic beats to liven up the garden party.
DJ Rok Riley is a long term fixture on the RTRFM air-waves, Perth’s ambassador of underground dance music and pure positivity, the one and only Rok Riley has been holding down Friday’s “Full Frequency” show solo since 2009 with a weekly transmission of loving connection forward thinking, boundary pushing and deeply emotive and soulful music.
No amount of hyperbole can do this shining light of dance music justice. Expect anything and everything as she seamlessly connects the dots between every strain of hip-hop, grime, house, funk, hardcore and techno known to humankind… as only she can!
6pm - 8.30pm | Brush up on your French trivia for a night of pop-quiz fun, facts and all things French at Quiz et Quizzique (Quiz and Quizzical)!
Bring your friends and your best knowledge of French culture, history, and more for a night of light-hearted competition and laughter.
From baguettes to Bonaparte, chansons to châteaux, test your wits on everything that makes France magnifique! There are fun spot prizes up for grabs, and a chance to reign supreme!
Arrive early and participate in both quiz sessions (don't worry, the questions will be different!). Grab a drink, settle in, and say “oui”.
Schedule
- 6pm | Doors open
- 6.15pm | Session 1 Empress Joséphine’s Garden experience
- 7pm | Session 2 Empress Joséphine’s Garden experience
- 7pm | Session 1 Quiz et Quizzique
- 7.45pm | Session 3 Empress Joséphine’s Garden experience
- 7.45pm | Session 2 Quiz et Quizzique
- 8.30pm | Event close
6pm - 8.30pm | Experience the inspiring Afro Kreol sounds of legendary singer, songwriter and musician Grace Barbé (duo performance), whose French-speaking roots in the tiny Indian Ocean nation of Seychelles fuses diverse influences from Africa, Europe and Asia.
Grace Barbé is a Seychellois born, Australian singer-songwriter from Western Australia who also performs with the Afrobeat and psychedelic band of the same name which includes Jamie Searle (guitar, music director and producer) and Hardy Perrine (drums).
6pm – 11pm | Take in the decadence and glamour of Parisian burlesque as we celebrate Les Moulin Rouge with fabulous dancers from Sugar Blue Burlesque. The girls will be dripping with sequins and scantily clad sexiness for a special Valentine’s Day. Bust out your vintage garters and corsetry and take a step back into Baz Luhrmann’s musical classic, Moulin Rouge (2001) for a film screening where every lover has a song! There’ll be fun costume prizes for those who dress to express themselves!
Note: Due to a busy schedule of burlesque performances for the opening, the Empress Joséphine's Garden experience will be open for casual viewing during the opening event.
Sugar Blue Burlesque
Established 2007, Sugar Blue Burlesque is a performance troupe and burlesque academy, curating spectacular sell-out shows and events in Perth and Regional WA. One of the leaders in the Australian burlesque community, many award-winning performers call Sugar Blue Burlesque home.
Schedule
6pm Doors open (Empress Josephine’s Garden – casual viewing)
6.20pm Sugar Blue Burlesque performances 1 & 2
7pm Sugar Blue Burlesque performance 3 & 4
7.30pm Theatre Doors open (Pre film entertainment)
7.40pm Sugar Blue Burlesque Cocktail Time! performance 5 (Theatre)
8pm Sugar Blue performances 6, 7 and 8 (Theatre)
8.20pm Moulin Rouge (2001) screening begins (Theatre)
~9.20pm Intermission – Le Bar open for drinks service
9.50pm Last drinks
10.55pm Screening concludes
6pm – 8.30pm | This musical duo features talented female musicians who are masters of the accordion, piano, mandolin and acoustic gypsy guitar. With their unique blend of French favourites, Gypsy jazz and classics, they bring a suave and sophisticated energy to every performance.
Cat & The Box
Nikki Dagostino and Catrin Enderlein have honed their craft to perfection, delivering flawless performances every time. Their passion for music is evident in every note they play, and their infectious energy will have you tapping your feet and nodding your head to the beat.
6pm – 8.30pm | Sassafras Trio combines toe-tapping swing, breakneck gypsy jazz and re-worked jazz standards in a vibrant and engaging mix of acoustic music, all performed with the dazzling virtuosity and passion that is intrinsic to the gypsy jazz tradition. Repertoire features French inspired classics from the likes of Django Reinhardt, Birelli Lagrene, Gonzalo Bergara and Les Doigts Des L'Homme plus original arrangements of jazz standards and some original compositions. You will love the energy and hot-cool chutzpah of these master string players.
Sassafras
Formed in late 2015, Sassafras has now established a reputation as one of Perth’s premier gypsy jazz groups. The Sassafras band performs in a range of different size formats featuring well-known local musicians, however, all the different band formats do however have one thing in common - the core rhythm section of string players Lachlan Gear, Aaron Deacon and Pete Jeavons.
6pm – 8.30pm | Get ready for some white-hot diva moments, as we bring cabaret drag glamour to the garden party. Dean Sings the Divas is a celebration of the timeless influence of iconic women in music. From the powerful ballads of Whitney Houston to the electrifying energy of Tina Turner and the timeless glamour of Cher, singer and drag queen extraordinaire Dean Misdale brings the essence of these divas to life on stage. Each song is a showstopper, and every performance is a jubilant homage to the enduring legacy of these musical icons.
Dean Misdale
Dean Misdale is a dynamic and groundbreaking entertainer, renowned for their exceptional skills and versatile talents, creating a unique blend of music and drag performance that transcends traditional boundaries. Dean's musical journey reached new heights when they achieved the remarkable feat of becoming the first Drag Queen to hit number 1 on the iTunes Australia Chart with a cover of the disco classic Celebration. Beyond their musical accomplishments, Dean has also made waves as a drag performer, earning the prestigious award for Best Cabaret & Variety Show at Fringe World 2022. Dean's artistry extends beyond the studio and onto the stage, where they dazzle audiences with a combination of vocal prowess, charisma, and a flair for the dramatic.
Related exhibitions
Immerse yourself in the enchanting world of Empress Joséphine's garden — a world filled with colour, wonder, discovery, and surprise.
