Jenny Going

M.Mus., B.Soc.Sc., Dip.T., Dip.Mus(USA)., Dip.Bus.Admin.

Jenny uses the podium to motivate, build enthusiasm, enhance standards of performance and grow musician’s passion for music.  She is a lively leader and highly sort after conductor, music educator, adjudicator, conference/workshop presenter and an entertaining compere.

The motivation of others is something that has always fascinated Jenny. She sees it as one of the primary roles of a conductor. This has led her to focus her work on young people and community ensembles with their energy, excitement and enthusiasm.

Jenny is currently Musical Director of the Essendon Symphony where she has been conductor since 2008. In 2023 she was appointed Principal Conductor of the Ballarat Symphony Orchestra and has conducted some of Melbourne’s leading ensembles ; including the Zelman Symphony, Hopkins Symphonia and Melbourne University BioMed Orchestra.

Jenny has experience and commitment to youth ensembles. She recently conducted Melbourne Youth Orchestra’s Percy Grainger Orchestra in concert, the Philharmonic Orchestra at summer school and the Bendigo Youth Orchestra workshop project.  In 2016 she founded the West Melbourne Schools Orchestra to provide rehearsal and performance opportunities for students in Melbourne’s West.

A life-long love of learning and commitment to conducting led her to hone her skills completing her Masters of Music Performance degree specialising in orchestral conducting at the University of Melbourne under Benjamin Northey and Luke Dollman. She was honoured to be the inaugural recipient of the Rosemary and John Hopkins Award.

As a music educator, Jenny established a creative music resources business, Noteable.  She wrote and published 10 resources for classroom music teachers, including innovative, interactive digital resources, used throughout Australasia. She was a regular presenter of workshops and at national music education conferences.

Jenny adjudicates for the APRA/AMCOS Music Awards, the Victorian School Music Festival as well as Australian Brass Band National Championships. Jenny also works with ABODA Victoria as a conductor mentor at various professional development events.

During her music career Jenny has worked as a professional trombonist with the Royal New Zealand Navy Band and performed on stage with Randy Brecker, Arturo Sandoval, Robin Eubanks and Rob McConnell during her time studying jazz trombone in Philadelphia. She recorded and toured extensively throughout the west-coast of the USA and recorded with Ska Band ‘Ruder Than You’.