Langley Ukulele Ensemble

The Langley Ukulele Ensemble is Canada's premier ukulele ensemble, establishing a reputation for excellence. It is based out of Langley, British Columbia, Canada. Composed of 20+ young musicians, aged 13-21, the ensemble performs 50-80 concerts a year, in their community, regionally, as well as traveling across Canada, to Florida, Texas, California, the Pacific Northwest, Japan and Hawaii.

They travel to Hawaii every July as part of their annual tour. During their stay there, they are sponsored by the Sheraton Waikiki, one of Waikiki's premier beachfront hotels.

Their motto is "enriching lives through music" and they do so every time they perform.

Alumni

The Langley Ukulele Ensemble is fun starting point for many young and upcoming ukulele musicians. Its most famous alumnus, James Hill, is pursuing a career as a solo artist and has been dubbed by Stuart McLean of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the "Wayne Gretzky of Ukulele". Hill is currently considered to be among the world's finest, rivaling Hawaii native Jake Shimabukuro.

Other alumni include acoustic group Exit 58.

Recordings

The Ensemble has released nine recordings, demonstrating their versatility with the instrument. They showcase their ability to perform Hawaiian, Christmas, Classical, Jazz, Rock and Roll and other styles on a variety of CDs. They will be releasing their new CD, called "Summer Strumming" in Spring 2007 featuring a melange of upbeat tunes.

Miscellaneous

They were named Langley's Entertainer of the Year for 2005, and their musical director was named Langley's Leader of the Year for the same year.

In summer 2007, they participated in the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo and opened the Stratford, Ontario Summer Music Festival in addition to their annual tour to Hawaii.

External links

* [http://www.langleyukes.com/ Langley Ukulele Ensemble]
* [http://www.ukulelejames.com/ James Hill]