Anarchy in the UKulele

The Ukulele Orchestra is a group of all-singing, all-strumming Ukulele players, who use instruments bought with loose change, and who believe that all genres of music are available for reinterpretation, as long as they are played on the Ukulele. A concert by the Ukulele Orchestra is a funny, virtuosic, twanging, singing, awesome, foot-stomping obituary of rock-n-roll and melodious light entertainment featuring only the "bonsai guitar" and a menagerie of voices; no drums, no pianos, no backing tracks, and no banjos. A collision of post-punk performance and toe-tapping oldies. You may never think about music in the same way once you've been exposed to the Ukes' depraved musicology. The Orchestra use the limitations of the instrument to create a musical freedom with Ukuleles, (little ones, big ones, high ones, low ones) revealing unsuspected insights into popular music. From Tchaikovsky to Nirvana via Otis Reading, the Orchestra takes you on a world tour with only hand luggage and gives the listener "One Plucking Thing After Another".

The Ukulele Orchestra started as a bit of fun in 1985. The first gig, intended as a one-off, was a sell out, and after one more gig the Orchestra had been on national radio. Since then there have been hundreds of appearances on radio and TV worldwide including BBC's 'Jools Holland - Hootenanny', 'Blue Peter', ‘The Today Programme’, ‘Richard and Judy’, Radio 4's ‘Loose Ends’ and ‘Nevermind the Buzzcocks’.

There have been sold out concerts in America, Canada, Belgium, Sweden, Finland, Ireland and Japan, in venues as diverse as Ronnie Scott's world famous London jazz club, The Royal Festival Hall, Glastonbury Festival, The Big Chill, Chicago Chamber Music Festival, Detroit Festival of the Arts and The Edinburgh Festival.

The Orchestra has rhythm, bass, baritone, tenor, soprano and lead Ukulele players, creating a rich palate of orchestration possibilities and registers. Sitting shoulder to shoulder, they dress in formal evening wear like a symphony orchestra, reworking classics of rock 'n' roll, punk, jazz and classical music. In highlighting both the beauty and vacuity of the material, the Orchestra revel in the triviality and the self-reverence of popular and highbrow music, while being both serious and light-hearted. Sometimes a foolish song can move an audience more than high art. Audiences like to have a good time with the Ukulele Orchestra, which shows that musical intelligence and levity are not incompatible with acoustic versions of heavy metal, performance art techniques and the homage of a live karaoke.

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www.ukuleleorchestra.com

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