December 2023

The Arc of Altoona Ukulele Club is small but might! We play and sing together every other Tuesday, and we rejoice in finding songs that give maximum fun while using the fewest chords. 

The Dirty Hillers is a ukulele and cello duet comprised of members Melissa Nannen (ukulele, lead vocals) and Erin Ryan Barnes (cello, vocals).  They are based in the Philadelphia, PA area. Their music is an eclectic mix of rock and blues inspired alternative/folk originals, featuring raw, dirty vocals.

Stu Fuchs is a heart centered, award winning musician and teaching artist.  His passion is helping others learn to play music with greater ease, freedom and joy.  Over a 25 year career, Stu has played music across the globe:  Django Reinhardt’s gypsy jazz with symphony orchestras, presenting workshops at ukulele festivals on three continents, facilitating drumming & music improvisation at yoga retreat centers for everyone from children to college music students, prison inmates to Fortune 500 CEOs.

It’s rare when an artist arrives on the scene offering a refreshing new spin on a traditional genre of music. Steven Espaniola is that artist. Raised in Aliamanu, Hawai’i and now residing in the California Bay Area, Steven is a self taught multi-instrumentalist Hawaiian artist specializing in Ki Ho'alu (Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar), ‘Ukulele, Upright Bass, and Leo Ki'e Ki'e (Traditional Hawaiian falsetto). Of Hawaiian, Filipino, Chinese and Spanish descent, his ethnicity is as diverse as his unique sound which preserves the integrity of the traditional with a f

Skye Zentz grew up in Norfolk, VA, in a house full of strange musical instruments, star wars figures, and love.

Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Sarah Maisel has always had a love for music. At the age of 6, she began violin lessons and played in youth orchestras for several years. Her focus was primarily classical for the 10 years she studied.

Rotem Sivan is taking the NYC scene by storm. Described by DownBeat Magazine as “a remarkable talent and a welcome new voice on the scene,” he completed his studies in both classical composition and jazz with honors in Tel Aviv & NYC.

Viewing music through a wide-angle lens, Paul Hemmings utilizes the unassuming ukulele to fuse together elements of modern jazz, free improvisation, and American roots music into a signature sound that has been called “bold, beautiful, and full of promise.” He has released six albums on Leading Tone Records, including outings with his ukulele-fronted jazz trio and critically acclaimed recordings with saxophonists John Techicai and Eric Alexander.