UK's Ukulele Orchestra charms Beijing

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain perform at the Urban Series Concert. Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain gave a funny and virtuoso concert yesterday evening at The Orange, Taikoo Li Sanlitun, kicking off the "Urban Series" concerts of the 17th Beijing Music Festival, which will run through Oct 31.

The eight all-singing and all-strumming musicians performed a mixed program from David Bowie's Life On Marsto Wagner's Valkyries, from Adele to Lady Gaga and even a rearranged ancient Chinese piece, Sping River Flower Moon Night.

Without pianos, drums, backing tracks, pitch shifters or electronic trickery, the audience, old and young, just enjoyed the awesome revelation of the rich palette of orchestration afforded by ukuleles and singing.

The ukulele is a four-string small-sized guitar taken to Hawaii by Portuguese immigrants in the 19th century. It gained great popularity in the United States during the 20th century and from there spread internationally. The tone and volume of the instrument varies with size and construction. Ukuleles usually come in five sizes: sopranos, concert, tenor, baritone and bass.

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain was established in 1985 and has given thousands of sold-out concerts across the world. Members recently performed sold-out shows at the Sydney Opera House, the Royal Albert Hall and New York's Carnegie Hall.

Yesterday was its debut inChina. In the afternoon, the musicians also gave a pre-concert talk to the audience to introduce the instrument.

Since its start in 1998, the annual Beijing Music Festival brings audiences the world's best classical music. From 2010, the festival has partnered with Swire Properties to run an "Urban Series" at Taikoo Li Sanlitun, the popular shopping center, to present cross-over performances.