Author Archives: cutiecircle

Emo and Ukulele — What Dreams are Made Of

Another Tale of a Ukulele Adventure

A Cutie’s simple wish of being in a photo with her all-time favourite comedian and all-time favourite instrument turned out better than her wildest dreams.

Jen was beyond elated with her favourite comedian and instrument all in one shot.

Emo Philips, the amazing comedy legend, graciously brought out his teal recorder after the photo and humoured Jen to a kanikapila of her all-time favourite ukulele song, Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

The first in Vancouver (maybe?) duet involving two underdogs of musical instruments took place at Yuk Yuk’s tonight in front of a live off-stage audience.

When Jen laughed herself into stitches and fell to the ground on one knee in the middle of their song, Emo quipped that she was just like Jimi Hendrix except that Jimi would save that for the end of his act.

The ukulele player disappeared from view as she laughed too hard and was on her way to the floor.

Jen could only credit this memorable encounter to the ukulele’s awesome ability of attracting compassionate, funny people together with the ultimate goal of generating laughter and happiness. The unbelievable impromptu duet erased the gut-wrenching pain that had plagued Jen all day and left her with a semi-permanent grin as she entered dreamland tonight. Laughter is truly the best medicine. Congratulations on a fantastic show tonight, Emo! Thank you for your humanity and all the best to your comedy tour.

Ralph Shaw’s Ukulele Songshop Series: Songs from the 1940s Workshop

Songshop 1940s

The Cuties are happy to announce that, Ralph Shaw, the King of Ukulele and leader of the Vancouver Ukulele Circle, once again will be returning to the suburbs to present the third workshop in his Ukulele Songshop Series.

Songs from the 1940s

In this workshop you’ll discover a range of song types from one glorious decade of music. It was a period overshadowed by World War II and the songs are some of the finest expressions of love, yearning and joyful escapism you’ll ever play. 1940’s people interacted through music and dance and it was a time of exceptional songwriting. Each song is handpicked as a means for learning a variety of techniques and strumming styles (samba, syncopation, waltz, triplets, rolls and more.) And you‚Äôll pick up some swell new repertoire along the way! You may also record the lesson for your personal use! Seats are limited so RSVP soon.

Date: Sunday, May 10, 2015

Time: 4:00pm – 5:30pm

Location: Room 4, Pinetree Community Centre, 1260 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam

Parking: Free

Cost: $20 (please bring exact change)

Map:

Registration Form

To register, please complete the following form:

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Ralph Shaw’s Ukulele Songshop Series: Songs from the 1950s Workshop

Songshop 1950s

The Cuties are happy to announce that, Ralph Shaw, the King of Ukulele and leader of the Vancouver Ukulele Circle, is returning to the suburbs to present the second of three workshops in his Ukulele Songshop Series.

Songs from the 1950s

The decade that gave us Doo wop, The Everly Brothers, Elvis and the songs of Lieber and Stoller provide the material for this workshop. Every song is handpicked as a means for learning a variety of techniques and strumming styles. And you’ll pick up some nifty new repertoire along the way! You may also record the lesson for your personal use! Seats are limited so RSVP soon.

Date: Sunday, April 12, 2015

Time: 4:00pm – 5:30pm

Location: Room 4, Pinetree Community Centre, 1260 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam

Parking: Free

Cost: $20 (please bring exact change)

Map:

Registration Form

To register, please complete the following form:

← Back

Thank you for your response. ✨

Free Community Screening of “The Ukes in America” Documentary

The Ukes in America

Come and join us on February 8, 2015 for the Coquitlam Premiere of “The Ukes in America”, a documentary about the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain’s tour across the United States produced by the independent filmmaker Robert Stern at Litmus Films.

We thank Litmus Films for letting us purchase a community screening license for this film and for the generous assistance of the Glen Pine Pavilion staff and for the use of their facility to hold this event.

To reserve seats, please call 604.927.4386 and mention barcode 518262 during Monday to Friday between 8:30 am and 7:00 pm.

Synopsis

Your back-of-the-tour-bus seat on The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain’s anarchic first coast-to-coast tour of the USA. America is The Ukes’ major musical inspiration, but what will Americans make of the cult heroes’ British humour and ukulele musicianship? The Ukes In America features barnstorming stage performances, impromptu jams and guerrilla gigs in unlikely venues, including eight previously unrecorded songs.

From Carnegie Hall to California, from the NY subway to a San Franciso cafe, The Ukes In America is bursting with unexpected encounters, genre-bending music and self-deprecating wit. Backstage, on the road and at play, unique access reveals an intimate, fun and compelling portrait of this unique band.

Date: Sunday, February 8, 2015

Time: 11:00 am – 12:10 pm (immediately before the Cutie Circle’s Hawaiian Ukulele Workshop with Gary Cyr at Pinetree Community Centre at 12:30pm)

Location: Great Room, Glen Pine Pavilion, 1200 Glen Pine Court, Coquitlam

Parking: Free underground parking on the first level of the building

Cost: Free Admission

Map:

Hawaiian Ukulele Workshop with Gary Cyr

Poster_Gary

Chase away the winter blues with a Hawaiian music workshop! We will be learning 2 or 3 songs during the 90 minute lesson. One will be in the Hawaiian language and the other(s) in English with perhaps a few Hawaiian words salted in. Hawaiian attire is optional!

Date: Sunday, February 8, 2015 [SOLD OUT]

Time: 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm (immediately after the Cutie Circle Free Community Screening of the documentary film, “The Ukes in America”, at 11:00am, Glen Pine Pavilion)

[Note: There will be no song circle on February 8, 2015 from 2:00 to 4:00pm.]

Location: Room 4, Pinetree Community Centre, 1260 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam

Parking: Free

Cost: $20 (please bring exact change)

Map:

To register, email events@cutiecircle.com.

Cutie Circle 2015 Winter Meetings

We will be meeting the second Sunday of every month at the Pinetree Community Centre in Coquitlam.

Date: Sundays, January 11, February 8 [Cancelled*], and March 8.

On February 8, we will be having a FREE Community Screening of “The Ukes in America”, a ukulele documentary film about the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain’s Tour Across the United States to be shown at 11:00am at the Glen Pine Pavillion (not Pinetree Community Centre) in Coquitlam. Everyone is welcome. The Hawaiian Ukulele Workshop by Gary Cyr will be held at the usual location at the Pinetree Community Centre.

Time: 2:00pm – 4:00pm

Location: Room 4, Pinetree Community Centre, 1260 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam

Parking: Free

Cost: $3.50 (to cover the venue rental)

Map:

Accessories: Bring a uke and a music stand.

Songbooks: Bring your White Rock Ukulele Circle Songbooks volumes 1 and 2.

Cutie Circle’s Christmas Extravaganza with Gary and Ron

Gary and Ron

We are very very honoured to have our next meeting be guest-led by our dear friends, Gary Cyr and Ron Usher, from the White Rock Ukulele Circle and Vancouver Ukulele Circle respectively. Big thanks go to Gary and Ron for their kindness and musical camaraderie!

We will be playing Christmas songs from the White Rock Christmas songbook. Please bring along your songbook. If you do not have one, you can purchase them at the next White Rock Ukulele Circle (on Saturday, Dec 6 from 2 to 4pm at the Semiahmoo House Society, 15306 – 24 Ave. Surrey). We will also have some on hand for purchase at $8 each.

For the break, we will have a mini snack potluck to celebrate the year-end. Please feel free to bring goodies and/or non-alcoholic beverages of any kind to share. We will have coffee and hot water for this special occasion. Cuties are also welcome to play their favourite tunes during performance time or even dress up in festive colours.

Following the song circle, we will have a Christmas Ukulele with Ralph Shaw workshop. Let’s make it an afternoon of holiday ukulele fun!

Time: 2:00pm – 4:00pm

Location: Room 4, Pinetree Community Centre, 1260 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam

Parking: Free

Cost: $2 (to cover the venue rental)

Map:

Accessories: Bring a uke and a music stand.

Christmas Ukulele with Ralph Shaw

Come and join international ukulele star and teacher: Ralph Shaw. This class will improve your ukulele playing while learning favourite Christmas songs.

Seasonal songs from the Vancouver Ukulele Circle Christmas book (which you can download at no cost) will be used as a vehicle to learn: Strumming Techniques, Simple Picking Patterns, and other easy-to-understand ideas. The goal is to make your festive repertoire sound great as well as being satisfying and fun to play.

(IMPORTANT – you need to download and print the book using the link below. Some books will also be available to purchase.)

You will come away with a package of seasonal songs that you can strum for all your future Christmases!

Everyone and all ages are welcome.

Date: Sunday, December 14, 2014

Time: 4:15 pm – 5:45 pm (immediately after the Cutie Circle December Christmas Extravaganza)

Location: Room 4, Pinetree Community Centre, 1260 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam

Parking: Free

Cost: $20 (please bring exact change)

Songbook: Free (Click here to download and bring printed songbook to workshop.)

Please check out the following songs from the songbook before the workshop:

White Christmas
Mary’s Boy Child
Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town
Silver Bells
O Holy Night
The Little Drummer Boy
I’ll Have a Blue Christmas

Bring a music stand and a chord chart. You may record the workshop for your own purposes.

Map:

To register, email events@cutiecircle.com.

Ralph Shaw’s Ukulele Songshop Series

The Cuties are excited to welcome, Ralph Shaw, the King of Ukulele and leader of the Vancouver Ukulele Circle, to the suburbs to present the first of three workshops in his Ukulele Songshop Series.

Songs from the 1960s [SOLD OUT]

Music from the likes of Simon and Garfunkel, Dusty Springfield, Ben E. King and the Sinatras, plus others, provide the material for this workshop. Every song is handpicked as a means for learning a variety of techniques and strumming styles. And you’ll pick up some groovy new repertoire along the way! You may also record the lesson for your personal use! Seats are limited so RSVP soon.

Date: Sunday, November 23, 2014

Time: 2:00pm – 3:30pm

Location: Room 4, Pinetree Community Centre, 1260 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam

Parking: Free

Cost: $20 (please bring exact change)

Map:

To register, email events@cutiecircle.com.

Cuties Welcome Paul to Song Circle

Cuties strummed with our new leader, Paul Joaquin, for the first time at the November meeting! Having another gorgeous day to start off the song circle, we were all playing our ukes in harmony!

Cutie Circle

Paul prepared a series of songs to share with Cuties, some came from other parts of the province. We were so fortunate to have members from as far as Abbotsford, Agassiz, Mission, North Vancouver, Richmond, Surrey, White Rock, etc., to share their music with us.

Cutie Circle