The UOGB's 2012 tour of Australia was filmed by Litmus Films who followed the orchestra every day, shot every move, recorded every back-stage bit of banter, shot ukes being played on the beach, filmed rehearsals, workshops, even serenades to local animals. This footage will become an hour-long DVD (plus extras) and constitute a documentary of the entire Oz- tour showing the orchestra as you've never seen them before! The material is already shot, and what we've been allowed to see looks great. In order to complete the project through editing and post production, Litmus Films is taking the pukka independent film makers' route, via fan-funding. This means that interested parties can pre-order their copy of the DVD to ensure that it gets made. And more than that, you can become part of the project, getting additional benefits, including being listed on the credits of the final documentary, or becoming an Associate Producer, or an Official Sponsor, having your logo on every single copy of the DVD, or even having their individual, group or club ukulele playing included in the "extras" of the DVD. Litmus has until June 15th to raise the $40,000 required to complete the film, so if you think you or someone you know might be interested, don't hang about. Click above link to find out more and get involved! Online tutorial! Seeing as we regularly receive emails from Ukes-fans asking for the arrangement of our songs, we've decided to give you all a little tour through one of our long-standing favourites: Hot Tamales (They're Red Hot). Click here for the Red Hot Video Tutorial, And here for the sheet music. Now go and practice! Royal Albert Hall tickets now on sale! On Friday 21st September 2012 we'll be returning to London's wonderful Royal Albert Hall for another roof-raising, foot-stomping show. It's our only London gig of 2012 so catch us while you can! Click here for tickets. A new kind of duet! George proves he is a man of many talents as he keeps his focus on Estonian Breakfast TV. We're surprised it didn't send everyone Gaga...oh, wait, maybe it did - click here to see how! 'The Tracks of My Years' Podcast No.2 is now uploaded! It's Dave's turn to take a trip back in time and pick out some of his favourite tracks from the vast vaults of his musical memory. Click here to stream online, download to your computer, or access through itunes. The UOGB gets a-tweetin' - Follow @TheUkes on Twitter for the latest UOGB news, gigs and musings. You can also follow the UOGB on FACEBOOK and MYSPACE UOGB podcast - Let George take you on a ukulele-themed adventure from Carnegie Hall to Hawaii via a jam session with Glenn Tilbrook from Squeeze. Listen or download here. UOGB on ITV Meridian - Right smack dab in the middle of town, they found a paradise that's trouble proof... Rachel Hepworth of ITV Meridian joined the Ukes up on the roof one beautiful spring morning. Watch the interview here. IMPORTANT INFORMATION - It has been brought to the attention of The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, that another organisation, claiming to have been playing in the UK and Europe since 1998, and to being "the cult sensation from London" is being promoted in Germany and Austria. The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain has nothing to do with this organisation. To read more about it, please click here. UOGB AT THE BBC PROMS - DVD AVAILABLE HERE! - A fantastic DVD of the Ukulele Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall BBC Proms is available to order only here on our website. There are some photos of the concert on our Photos page, as well as a selection of the 1000+ ukulele players who came along to play on the night. Here's a short clip from the DVD, 'Prom Night'... NEW YORK TIMES UOGB ARTICLE Sept 2009 - read it here. CAT STEVENS May 2009- The Ukes were joined by Yusuf Islam (aka Cat Stevens) on a German TV show. You can watch the clip here. About The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain is a group of all-singing, all-strumming Ukulele players, using instruments bought with loose change, which believes that all genres of music are available for reinterpretation, as long as they are played on the Ukulele. A concert by the Ukulele Orchestra is a funny, virtuosic, twanging, awesome, foot-stomping obituary of rock-n-roll and melodious light entertainment featuring only the “bonsai guitar” and a menagerie of voices in a collision of post-punk performance and toe-tapping oldies. There are no drums, pianos, backing tracks or banjos, no pitch shifters or electronic trickery. Only an astonishing revelation of the rich palette of orchestration afforded by ukuleles and singing (and a bit of whistling). Audiences have a good time with the Ukulele Orchestra. Going from Tchaikovsky to Nirvana via Otis Redding and Spaghetti Western soundtracks, the Orchestra takes us on “a world tour with only hand luggage” and gives the listener “One Plucking Thing After Another”. Using instruments small and large, in high and low registers, whether playing intricate melodies, simple tunes, or complex chords, and sitting in chamber group format dressed in formal evening wear, the Orchestra uses the limitations of the instrument to create a musical freedom as it reveals unsuspected musical insights. Both the beauty and vacuity of popular and highbrow music are highlighted, the pompous and the trivial, the moving and the amusing. Sometimes a foolish song can touch an audience more than high art; sometimes music which takes itself too seriously is revealed to be hilarious. You may never think about music in the same way once you’ve been exposed to the Ukes’ depraved musicology. History The Orchestra was formed in 1985 as a bit of fun, but the first gig was an instant sell-out, and they've been performing ever since. By 1988 they had released an LP, appeared on BBC TV, played at WOMAD and recorded a BBC Radio 1 session. The current ensemble has been playing together for over 20 years, and has become something of a national institution. The Orchestra has given thousands of sold-out concerts across the world, including Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Poland, France, America, Canada, New Zealand and Japan. Over the last 25 years, the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain has spawned hundreds of imitators, and you can now find Ukulele Groups in nearly every major city, indeed, the Orchestra are often blamed for the current Ukulele revival which is sweeping the globe. The Ukulele Orchestra's music has been used in films, plays, and commercials, while film clips of the Orchestra’s live concerts and TV appearances on websites such as YouTube have been watched millions of times. Collaborators have included Madness, David Arnold, The British Film Institute, The Ministry of Sound, Yusuf Islam (aka Cat Stevens) and The Kaiser Chiefs. Selected TV / Radio appearances: Channel 4, Skins, 2010 BBC Radio 4, Loose Ends, 2005, 2010 RADIO BREMEN - 3 nach 9, May 09 BBC1 Culture Show, Jan 09 BBC Radio 1, Colin Murray, An Audience with the Ukulele Orchestra of GB, Dec 08 SAT1 WOW, hosted by Hugo Egon Balder, Nov 08 BBC Radio 4 Documentary 'The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain' presented by Phil Jupitus, July 08 Sky Arts, Hay on Sky, June 08 BBC Radio 4, Broadcasting House 2008 GMTV 2007 3SAT Bannmeile, Live concert on leading German cultural channel, Dec 07 BBC C-Beebies, Space Pirates, Dec 2007 BBC2 Electric Proms with the Kaiser Chiefs, Oct 07 ITV This Morning 2007, 2005 BBC The Slammer, Nov 2006 BBC Radio 6, Gideon Coe, 2007 Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Dec 06 BBC1 The Slammer, 2006 BBC2 The Story of Light Entertainment, 2006 BBC Radio 3, In Tune, 2005 BBC1 Blue Peter, February 2005 BBC Radio 4 Loose Ends with Ned Sherrin, 2005, 2003 BBC2 Jools Holland’s Hootenanny, 2004 Recent Festivals include: WOMADelaide, Australia, 2012 WOMAD, UK 2010 Cambridge Folk Festival 2010 BBC Proms, Royal Albert Hall, London 2009 Mosel Musikfest, Germany 2009 Arosa Humor-Festival, Switzerland 2009 Saitensprünge Festival, Germany 2009 Glatt Und Verkehrt Festival, Austria 2009 Boomtown Jazz Festival, Germany 2009 Innocent Festival, UK 2008 Humorolgie, Belgium 2008 Beverly Folk Festival, UK 2008 The Hay Festival, UK 2004, 2008 Cambridge Folk Festival, UK 2007 Detroit Festival of the Arts, USA 2007 The Big Chill, UK 2007, 2005 Glastonbury Festival, UK 2005 Greenbelt Festival, UK 2006 Edinburgh Festival, UK 2005, 2006 Cropredy Festival, UK 2005 Selected Venues: Sydney Opera House, 2012 Luxemburg Philharmonie, Luxemburg 2011 Carnegie Hall, New York 2010 Royal Albert Hall, London 2009 Hugenottenhalle, Frankfurt 2009 Karstadt Kunst und Kultur, Nuremberg 2009 The Sage, Gateshead UK 2008, 2010 Liverpool Philharmonic 2008, 2009 Lichfield Cathedral 2008 Salisbury Cathedral 2008 Chichester Arts Theatre 2008 Birmingham Town Hall 2006, 2007, 2008 TIPI Zelt am Kanzleramt, Berlin 2006, 2007, 2008 Fliegende Bauten, Hamburg 2007 The Barbican, London 2005 Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club 1988, 2005 The Royal Festival Hall 2005 Beuchauberg (Brussels) Performers: The performers in The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain are: Dave Suich, Peter Brooke Turner, Hester Goodman, George Hinchliffe, Richie Williams, Kitty Lux, Will Grove-White and Jonty Bankes.