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. If you'd like to purchase our high quality products - click here.
THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO JOINED US AT THE BBC PROMS!
Whether you came in person, or listened on Radio 3, it was great so many of you could join us. There is a picture of the whole crowd here, and a huge one you can zoom into (so you can see yourself if you were there) and download here.
PROMS DVD
We filmed the whole Proms performance and are currently producing a DVD that you will be able to buy only from our website. Please join our mailing list by clicking here and we will send you and email when it becomes available.
NEW CD
The next Live CD 'Live in London 2' is now available! Tracks include 'The Good, The Bad and the Ugly', 'Slave to the Rhythm', 'Fly Me Off the Handel', 'Shaft' and 12 more classics from the Ukulele Orchestra catalogue. Click here to get your copy.
CAT STEVENS
In May this year, the Ukes were joined by Yusuf Islam (aka Cat Stevens) on a German TV show. You can watch the clip here.
To find out where the Ukulele Orchestra is next playing live - click here.
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.
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 Orchestra was formed in 1985 as a bit of fun, but the first gig was an instant sell-out, and they've been performing ever since. By 1988 they had released an LP, appeared on BBC TV, played at WOMAD and recorded a BBC Radio 1 session. The current ensemble has been playing together for over 20 years, and has become something of a national institution. The Orchestra has given thousands of sold-out concerts across the world, including Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Poland, France, America, Canada, New Zealand and Japan.
Over the last 25 years, the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain has spawned hundreds of imitators, and you can now find Ukulele Groups in nearly every major city, indeed, the Orchestra are often blamed for the current Ukulele revival which is sweeping the globe. The Ukulele Orchestra's music has been used in films, plays, and commercials, while film clips of the Orchestra’s live concerts and TV appearances on websites such as YouTube have been watched millions of times. Collaborators have included Madness, David Arnold, The British Film Institute, The Ministry of Sound and The Kaiser Chiefs.
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 in a semi-circle, they dress in black tuxedos 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.
This raggle taggle group of disparate performers from widely different backgrounds is an incongruous assemblage of misfits. Could it be that this entertainment tribe, this anthropological phenomenon, has sidestepped the 20th century problems of art and walked into a new form, like Delphic Oracles on Stars in Their Eyes?
