UKULELE ORCHESTRA OF GREAT BRITAIN

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain is an all-strumming, all-singing group which takes all kinds of music and puts it under the microscope of the ukulele. The clue is in the name. The performances are funny, ironic, thought provoking and the work is often moving. Concerts are often sold out, whether in the UK or in Japan, USA, Germany, Sweden or elsewhere. The orchestra have packed the field at Glastonbury and also played at classical music festivals. Because they're hard to categorise they fit in anywhere. They can rock hard, make your face ache because you can't stop laughing, or turn you into a sentimental thing with their poignant pieces. Often the music chosen is famous: pop and rock, or jazz, or classical. Sometimes they throw in a quirky original piece, or a find a strange twist with a song as when they turn a power ballad into a sort of handbell ringing exercise with ukuleles, as they all do a sort of 3D maypole dance walking about playing each other's ukuleles. You have to see it to understand it. The orchestra sometimes find the hidden beauty in the tired old pop hit. Or make something interesting out of a cheesy or pretentious old remnant of popular culture. Sometimes they play eight songs simultaneously and you are amazed to find that a perfectly respectable counterpoint is the result.

Don't know what to expect for the ukes? Check out youtube if you're a net user. Or log onto www.ukuleleorchestra.com for links to newspaper and magazine articles, radio clips, TV snippets and more. The Ukes have appeared on UK TV...This Morning, Blue Peter, Richard and Judy, Jools Holland, Newsbeat, and had films made about them in Germany and Japan.

Monday 9th February, 7.30pm

TICKETS: £15.50 SOLD OUT