Ukelele Festival

The Old Riverport Uke Festival attracts international acts.

Saturday 2nd October will see the first Old Riverport Ukelele Festival.

A  whole day of concerts, workshops, open mike sessions and more from 10am  to 11pm in St Ives Corn Exchange. Labelled the Ukelele Festival of  Cambridgeshire it is attracting some of the countries leading exponents  of the art.

Attendance  is by purchasing a Day Ticket which costs £12. There are two children’s  workshops which are free to attend (although each child will have to  purchase a Day Ticket).

The other workshops are by the following tutors.

Matt Stead -  he is a full-time uke teacher and performer, as well as running The Uke  Room, a dedicated sales and tuition facility in the beautiful Forest of  Dean.  Matt is also the Musical Director of the National Uke Orchestra,  is DBS checked and and accredited RGT teacher.  He recently published a  highly successful book on Jazz Standards for the Uke, and has built a  huge following with his video series for beginners and intermediates on  YouTube.  His workshop will concentrate on making the Transition to  Picking - for those who have only strummed the uke, there is a whole  world of music you can make by picking individual notes, or combinations  of notes.

Peter Moss -  has been playing the uke since winning a major music prize at the age  of 12, he is a virtuoso player and teacher with a world-wide following.   I would say he has the fastest pair of hands in the West!  His  technique is impeccable, and his grasp of musical theory deep and  broad.  Peter has a significant catalogue of video tuition work on  YouTube, as most elite performers do.  Like all good teachers, he has  the knack of making it easy for his students.  Peter will run a workshop  dedicated to the Beatles' music, using four of their songs in four  different keys, culminating in a harmony piece for those who like to put  in the extra sparkle.

Phil Doleman is  another widely known performer/writer/player with a world-wide  following.  His speciality is old-time ragtime, jazz, blues and  hokum/jug band music, playing ukulele and banjo.  Phil is another  teacher who "makes it easy" for his students.  He has published several  books on how music works for uke players, and collections of old-time  songs which he dusts off and re-presents.  Phil's workshop for us will  be "Jazzing it Up", where he will teach a selection of easy jazz chords  to give players an extra something to set their performances apart.

Opera-lele are  George Bartle and Amanda Harkett, both trained singers in the opera and  musical theatre genre, from the RCM and Goldsmiths College.  With their  trusty ukuleles, they have devised a musical comedy act of the highest  calibre and dazzled audiences since 2016 wherever they have performed  around the world.  As ukulele groups tend to sing the melody only,  George and Mandi will be offering a workshop to help and encourage their  group to sing Vocal Harmony lines, to build up confidence and  "pazzazz".  Why have plain vanilla when you can have raspberry ripple?

Details of the Festival can be seen on the StIvesUkeFest Facebook page and can be booked at: www.ticketsource.co.uk/eventsstives