Singing Ukulele Retreat
featuring Jim Beloff and Kate O’Connor
Last year Fabric of Life offered a new musical program as part of its ongoing efforts to preserve and promote traditional skills which enrich our daily lives: the Singing Ukulele Retreat. Its success has inspired us to bring the program back this summer with two superb musicians.
The workshop will feature two great musicians:
Jim Beloff has been a tireless evangelist for the ukulele for over 20 years. He has written many instruction books as part of his “Jumpin Jim’s” series as well as compiling the beloved “Daily Ukulele” songbooks. Over the years he had done hundreds of workshops, introducing beginners to the ukulele and helping thousands to improve their playing. He has also written a concerto for solo ukulele and symphony orchestra—“Uke Can’t Be Serious”—and over 30 songs performed on his CDs. Jim’s 2010 workshop in Northampton sponsored by Downtown Sounds and the Northampton Community Music Center led to the creation of AEIOUkes, Northampton’s ukulele club, which still meets weekly at Forbes Library. He and his wife Liz were also featured performers in the Northampton Arts Council’s Four Sundays in February show “Ukes and Yo-yos”.
Kate O’Connor is a longtime career musician and band leader who has entertained audiences throughout New England, Bermuda and Florida with her stellar vocals, keyboards, steel drum, and guitar playing, and her original R & B, Jazz, Pop, and World Beat compositions. Kate is a best vocalist award winner from newspaper polls in the Western Massachusetts region, and was a longtime studio session vocalist for #1 hit songwriter Tony Romeo (I Think I love You). She performs with A Beautiful Future Band, (Caribbean, Irish, and multicultural original music), Blue Rendezvous, (Retro Soul and Swing), and Catalytics Swing Band, and teaches music lessons at the Northampton Community Music Center, Smith College, and Downtown Sounds.
The retreat will feature three sessions: there will be an introductory session for everyone led by Jim that will combine some warm-up playing and singing to get us all in the mood. At this session Jim will also talk about how he approaches arranging and performing a new song, which is often a challenge for beginning and intermediate players who want to learn new material.
Then half of the group will have a 90 minute session with Jim and the other half with Kate.; these sessions will focus on improving technique in playing and singing respectively. After that the groups will switch teachers for another 90 minute session. Following this there will be a community supper where we’ll have a chance to relax and socialize. The retreat will end with a short concert where our teachers will get a chance to perform for participants, and then the group will get together and show off what they have learned during the day.
Justina Golden is a singer and vocal teacher since 1986. She fell madly in love with teaching, trying to explain how to wield something invisible that has the power to transform lives. She has taught individuals, small groups, and choirs, turning good singers into professional singers. Justina also toured for 12 years in a singer/songwriter duo, taught voice at the Dar Williams “Writing a Song That Matters” workshop, and has taught at the Northampton Community Music Center and Smith College. She now teaches in Florence, MA at her 
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