There are no drums, pianos, backing tracks or banjos. No pitch shifters or electronic trickery. Only an astonishing revelation of the richness of sound afforded by seven ukuleles and singing. Experience George Hinchcliffe’s Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain on Friday, April 26 as they perform a variety of musical genres. Everything from ABBA to ZZ Top, Tchaikovsky to Nirvana and Lady Gaga to Spaghetti Westerns.  

This performance is presented as part of the 10x10 Art Series, an intriguing and innovative showcase of art forms, meticulously curated to satisfy the artistic curiosity of the Northwest Arkansas community.  

Ahead of their performance, we asked Leisa Rea, creative producer and orchestra member, a few questions to get more insight into this talented group. 

What can audiences expect when they come see this performance? 

A concert by The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain is a high-octane roller-coaster ride through every kind of musical genre. We are an orchestra, so each player has a particular role in each piece of music - we deliberately don’t all do the same thing at the same time, which seems to make things much more interesting. We don’t really play traditional ukulele music, instead we use the instrument as a starting point to explore things that shouldn’t really be played on a uke, from classical to heavy metal and everything in between. We are musicians and vocalists but perhaps most importantly, purveyors of pure entertainment.  

 From where do you draw inspiration for your art? 

From everywhere. We are an eclectic group of people with very different backgrounds and influences. We are a cover band essentially, so we have the whole history of the tunes and songs to pillage from. We don’t always take the most direct route.  

 What drew you to this performance field? 

The idea began as a sort of joke almost 40 years ago. The founders, George Hinchliffe and Kitty Lux, wanted to burst the pompous bubble that was ‘the music industry’ by making a slightly anarchic orchestra made up entirely of ukuleles. Also, it’s cool to be in a band.  

 Do you have any pre-show rituals or warm-ups? If so, what are they? 

There are seven members of the orchestra and we often run through one of two songs as a warmup, but individually we warm up differently. If you walked past the dressing rooms you might hear, intricate ukulele picking, vocal warmups, tea being slurped and maybe a bit of laughter. We don’t have any strange superstitions or rituals - although we have always played the same tune in sound check for the last 39 years. That’s a ritual of sorts, I suppose.  

 Pick 5 words that best describe your work. 

‘Ukulele’ ‘Orchestra’ ‘of’ ‘Great’ ‘Britain’  (Forgive me).  

What is the best advice that you have been given? 

We’ve managed to remain independent without being owned or controlled by the music business. I guess that means we might not have listened to much advice, but instead, trusted our own creative impulse. 

How did you decide to incorporate comedy into your performances? 

We just don’t take ourselves too seriously. We know it’s a silly idea that shouldn’t really work - and yet it does. The comedy comes from us knowing that and us wanting to be playful with an audience. 

What are some unique or memorable experiences you’ve had while traveling around the world to share your music? 

We played a private gig for the late Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday at Windsor Castle in front all the major royals. That was memorable. We also played a gig in Svalbard which is almost at the North Pole. That was cold.  

What songs, artists or genres of music are you currently listening to?  

We like everything. There are too many of us to be able to answer that accurately. If you want to know who I was listening to today - it was Barbra Streisand - but tomorrow it will be The Clash. Variety is the spice of life. 

What is your favorite song that you have done a cover of and why? 

I think you might get seven different answers if you asked each of us individually. We all have things we love playing and things we don’t! A truthful answer might be most recent song we are working on because when something is new to us, it has a certain appeal or challenge and we are all keen to play it. We have eight new cover songs in this current show, but you’ll have to come along to see what they are!