Featuring James Hill and the Ukulele All-Stars: Aldrine Guerrero • Brittni Paiva
Ukulele Bartt • Dominator • and Introducing Michael Powers’ Urban Ukulele Project

Welcome to the home of the Tahoe Area Uke Fest to be held March 19-21, 2010 at the beautiful John Ascuaga’s Nugget Resort (amazing indoor pool!) in Sparks, Nevada, (think Reno), just a few miles up the freeway from the Reno-Tahoe International Airport. Our festival received sad news on Wednesday when co-headliner Jake Shimabukuro suffered a passing in his family and had to reschedule his Saturday night performance. However, the uke community came to our rescue and we will still have two spectacular Celebrity Showroom concerts to offer. In addition to the evening concerts, the fest will feature multiple ukulele makers and vendors, free music on the festival stage all day Saturday, and dedicated, professional instructors offering workshops for all levels of uke players throughout the weekend.

Here is our entertainment lineup:

Friday, March 19 James Hill in the Celebrity Showroom with special guest Michael Powers. Doors open at 7pm
James is unquestionably one of the most innovative artists to have ever picked up the ukulele. He seamlessly melds multiple styles into his concerts and often makes up a few of his own along the way. He was introduced to the ukulele at the age of nine, not in Hawaii, but three thousand miles to the east, in Langley, British Columbia, where ukulele instruction has been mandatory in many schools since the late 1970’s. He was hooked from the beginning. While a still a teenager, James honed his skills as a key member of the world-renowned Langley ‘Ukulele Ensemble under the direction of Peter Luongo. After touring with them for twelve years, he embarked on a solo career in 2002 and has been “pushing the instrument into uncharted territory” ever since with genre-bending adaptations of everything from “One Note Samba” to the theme from “Super Mario Brothers.” On stage he is energetic and captivating, mixing colorful anecdotes with a versatile repertoire that stretches from Schubert to the Beatles and beyond.

Michael Powers is an accomplished performer and composer who added the ukulele to his repertoire after sharing the stage with Jake Shimabukuro in 2006. He has also taken the uke into new directions, combining classical, acoustic, jazz, and even a little Santana into his mix. You will love this show! Click here for tickets.

Saturday, March 20 Aldrine Guerrero, Brittni Paiva, and the Ukulele All Stars in the Celebrity Showroom . Doors open at 7pm. All ticketholders to Jakes show will be admitted and the tickets will also be honored for Jake’s June 11 make up date. There may be some additional tickets available. Stay in touch.
When Jake had to reschedule, the overwhelming consensus was to ask Aldrine to fill in. If you’ve seen him play, you know why. The problem was, Aldrine was at home in Kauai! But it only took one phone call for him to volunteer to hop on a plane and cross the ocean, to offer you the caliber of show Jake would have provided. As luck would have it, Hawaii’s ukulele sweetheart, Brittni Paiva, was scheduled to perform in California and had just agreed to attend the festival. Those two, along with various supporting performances by the rest of the All-Stars promises to create a memorable night of ukulele magic for all in attendance, capped off by a Grand-Jam-Finale´.

The Festival is FREE, only the Showroom Concerts and Workshops are ticketed. Use the links at the top of every page for details!

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS TIMELINE – CLICK ON TO DOWNLOAD .PDF