ʻUkulele

Taimane's love for mythology drew her to two mythical figures: the half-woman and half-snake Turkish goddess Shahmaran and the Hawaiian lizard goddess Kalamainuʻu. HPR's Cassie Ordonio has more.

This week The Conversation hosted some special guests who traveled all the way from Madeira, an island over 500 miles southwest of mainland Portugal.

The Hawaiʻi State Archives will be showcasing various vintage instruments and other historical music material at the International ʻUkulele Festival of Hawaiʻi this month.

A new Maui music festival was launched to give back to Lahaina fire victims. The event in Kula is dedicated to providing ukuleles to families who lost their instruments.

Ukulele virtuoso Taimane has an upcoming performance at the Hawaiʻi Theatre. She'll be showcasing a visual production featuring her Nā Hōkū Hanohano-winning album, "Hawaiki." She reflected on the strength of community and shared the healing power of music.

As relief efforts continue on Maui, many local musicians are using their talents to raise money for those displaced by the wildfires. That includes ukulele master Jake Shimabukuro. He recently turned the upcoming two-day Hana Hou Festival into a benefit concert for Hawaiʻi Community Foundation's Maui Strong fund.

A local ʻukulele collector is working to preserve the tiny instruments' sounds in partnership with the Hawaiʻi State Archives. As HPR's Cassie Ordonio reports, these four-stringed instruments date back to the Kingdom of Hawai‘i. So far, he has about 50 ʻukulele over 100 years old.

NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts have become a powerful launch pad for musicians, since they started in 2008. Its most popular video, of Anderson Paak, has racked up more than forty million views. Bob Boilen, host of All Songs Considered, curates the series, which has helped millions of listeners discover new artists. Now, a musician from Hawai‘i has made the cut.

The owners of a family ukulele business in Hawai?i will celebrate their deep musical roots at a cultural festival in Portugal.Joe Souza and his wife,…

Lyle Ritz, a revered bass player, who was also known as the “Father of Jazz Ukulele,” died last week in Portland, Oregon. Since the late 1950s, Ritz has…