Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Ode to ukeleles

Terrific article in the New York Times about the Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain (read it here). The thought of a group of tuxedo-clad Brits playing "Smells Like Teen Spirit" on ukeleles is funny enough, but here is my favorite part:

But the high point may have been when the band invited members of the audience to bring their own ukuleles and join in a group rendition of Beethovens “Ode to Joy,” part of their aim to spread the joy of ukuleles among the populace. There were more than 1,000 audience ukuleles, by an official count, and even the obviously unschooled joined in by swaying and waving their ukuleles in the air, like blissed-out teenagers wielding lighters at a rock concert.

We need a ukelele orchestra! And I know just the person to start one. Trivia quiz: which MC faculty member is a closeted ukelele aficionado? (Hint: not me.)

3 comments:

Ukelele Fanatic said...

Huzzah! World peace through more Ukeleles! I'm envisioning armies of smiling, ukelele-wielding goodness washing all the cynicism and tragic hipness away. Yay!

Joy said...

I'm gonna say Dr. Catalano - only because Joe would say it if I didn't.

MountainLaurel said...

Oh come on now, don't leave us hanging..... Or do I need to guess first?