Jan Preston's wonderful Winnie
![](https://genderinstitute.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/styles/anu_doublenarrow_440_scale/public/image/2021/6/Jan_Preston_Street_Theatre200x200.jpg?itok=1F0xDrnE)
Jan Preston grew up listening to Winifred Atwell on an old Colombus Radio in her kitchen. Just like Winnie, Jan was playing the piano as soon she could reach the keys.
In her new show Wonderful Winnie, Jan Preston and her band perform sparkling live renditions of iconic piano hits such as Black and White Rag, Big Ben Boogie and the Bumble Boogie, while Jan tells us the fascinating life story of Winnie Atwell, together with 150 projected photos from the archives of The National Library.
A musician who trained classically, was a perfect student, and could have been a concert pianist, Jan instead finished her 5 year classical piano degree and started experimenting with rock, eventually finding her voice as a boogie woogie piano player and songwriter years later in Sydney.