This time last year (December 2019), I was house sitting two homes and three cats in Somerville and Cambridge, Massachusetts. Each day, I cycled to nearby YMCAs for exercise and dined at Japanese and Korean restaurants near Porter Square T-station. I was practising the ukulele, guitar, and piano. I went to bed listening to a meditation series from the Daily OM.
I had no idea that 2020 would be spectacularly different from 2019.
Did anyone anticipate that 2020 would be a year of NOT?
Not being able to do what you spent days, weeks, or months planning to do?
Not travelling?
Not teaching?
Not performing?
Not seeing friends and family?
The first time I heard the word “corona virus” was during a phone call. Jokingly. As if it was much ado about nothing.
I checked with my friend in Singapore. “You should pay attention. It could be inconvenient if you plan to travel.”
My mother and sister were following the news in Taiwan. They advised against travel. They remembered what it was like when SARS first hit. Stock up on toilet paper and rice. Get a mask.
In February, I visited a hospital in Milton, MA and asked the nurse for a mask. She brought me a box and said, “Take as many as you want.” A doctor told me, if you feel unwell, we can’t test you for this new disease. Nobody in the country has got a test.
At that time, my reservations about travelling had all to do with the stigma of having to quarantine. I could not fathom staying at home for 14 days. I could not imagine cities being locked down like Wuhan. There was so little information about the virus and the disease that it seemed incredible that the virus would travel outside of China.
Look at where we are now. I have quarantined myself more than once. I have been under lock down more than once. The number of cases have exploded.
But there is a silver lining. Vaccines have arrived. Will we be out of it any time soon?
I am giving two FREE workshops in Zoom — to say goodbye to 2020. Both are from 15:00 to 16:00 Eastern Time (ET). And there’s still time to register to take a course in January.
- Thursday 12/31/2020 Auld Lang Syne: from three chords to more!
- Thursday 1/7/2021 Finding and editing song sheets (to get them jam ready)
Below are the contents of my EVENTS page. So many festivals, jam sessions, and classes did not happen. Necessity is the mother of invention. I moved my classes online, into Zoom. I no longer commute or print handouts. But I do spend a lot of time recording, downloading, editing, and uploading videos.
- Every Thursday — Three Chord Thursdays at Three
- — Songs in the Time of Corona
- — Global Karaoke Party
ONLINE UKULELE COURSES (new 5 week classes begin mid-November 2020)
- Hum & Strum – no pre-requisite. Tune your voice, sing in tune and in sync.
- Music Theory – no pre-requisite. All levels.
- Bootcamp Level 1 or 2 – Pre-req: have taken beginning course (anywhere)
- Pluck & Strum Series Pre-req: can read tabs and pluck with fingers.
- Tips & Tricks —> BOOTCAMP SERIES
- Strum & Hum —> STRUM WORKSHOPS
- Pick & Pluck —> FINGERSTYLE UKULELE, LOW G UKES UNITE!
BREAKING NEWS @ 3/25/2020 The Covid-19 Pandemic has changed everything. All these events will be moved online, postponed, or cancelled.
September 9 – 13, 2020
Port Townsend Ukulele Festival
Washington State
July 12 – 19, 2020
Ukulele Festival in the White Mountains
Conway, New Hampshire
June 27 – July 2, 2020
Boston Guitar Festival
5 x Thursdays from June 25, 2020
5:30 – 7:30 pm Fingerstyle Ukulele
7:45 – 9:45 pm Fun with the Ukulele
Cambridge Center for Adult Education
June 5 – 6, 2020
Belfast Ukulele Festival
Belfast, Maine
Sunday May 17, 2020
Somerlele Festival
Somerville, MA
5 x Wednesdays from May 13, 2020
5:30 – 7:30 pm Intro to Fingerstyle Ukulele
7:45 – 9:45 pm Fun with the Ukulele * (new course)
Cambridge Center for Adult Education
6 x Thursdays 4/30 – 6/11 (no class 6/4)
3:20 – 4:30 pm Continuing Ukulele (ages 10 – 15)
4:40 – 5:50 pm Beginning Ukulele (ages 10 – 15)
6:00 – 7:20 pm Beginning Ukulele (adults)
7:30 – 8:50 pm Continuing Ukulele (adults)
Arlington Community Education
Saturday April 25, 2020 @ 7:30 pm
Boston Guitar Orchestra before David Russell
First Lutheran Church, Boston
Thursday April 23, 2020
New ukulele book signing and sale
Workshop / Jam
Lower Mills Library
Dorchester, MA
Thursday April 16, 2020 @ 6 – 9 pm
Ukulele Chord Fingering Workshop
Arlington Community Education
5 x Wednesdays from April 8, 2020
5:30 – 7:30 pm Intro to Fingerstyle Ukulele
7:45 – 9:45 pm Ukulele Strum
Cambridge Center for Adult Education
4 x Tuesdays from April 7, 2020 @ 2:15 – 3:15 pm
Ukulele Strumming Rhythm Lessons
Milton Council on Aging
Saturday April 4, 2020
Ukulele Melee
Hamilton, MA
April 3 – 5, 2020
URI Guitar Festival
Kingston, RI
April 3 – 5, 2020
Muse and the Marketplace
Boston, MA
Thursday April 2, 2020 @ 6 – 9 pm
Ukulele Strum Pattern Workshop
Arlington Community Education
Saturday March 28th, 2020 @ 9:00 am – 4:45 pm
Ukulele Boot Camp (virtual session)Cambridge Center for Adult Education
Thursday March 26th, 2020 @ 6:30 – 9:30 pm
Chinese Songs with Ukulele WorkshopCambridge Center for Adult Education
6 x Tuesdays from March 10 to April 14, 2020 @ 6:30 – 7:45 pm
Beginning Ukulele Course
Passim School of Music
Cambridge, Massachusetts
London March 3 – 25, 2020
5 x Tuesdays from March 3, 2020
6:00 – 7:30 pm Beginning Ukulele
7:45 – 8:45 pm Beginning Guitar
Milton Adult Education
February 22 & 23, 2020
New England Guitar Ensemble Festival (NEGEF)
premiere of “Storm Warning” by Nikita Koshkin
Longy School of Music
Saturday February 15, 2020 @ 7:30 pm
Boston Guitar Orchestra before Eliot Fisk concert
Latin American Music Festival
Rivers School Conservatory
Weston, MA
Saturday February 8, 2020 @ 7:30 pm
Boston Guitar Orchestra (BGO) concert before Matt Palmer
BGO Programme: Tantra, Dido’s Lament, Flow
First Lutheran Church, Boston
Saturday February 8, 2020 @ 2 pm
Ukulele singalong with Chinese Hot Pot Party
FREE – register here.
Asian Women for Health
125 S. Huntington Ave, Boston, MA
Saturday January 25, 2020
Chinese New Year of the Rat – a new cycle begins
5 x Sundays @ 2:00 – 3:30 pm 1/19, 1/25*, 2/2, 2/9, 2/15*
Intro to Ukulele (*Saturday 1/25 at 12:30pm)
Walter Baker Building – register on Eventbrite
Saturday January 25, 2020 @ 3:30 – 5:00 pm
Learn to read notes for the ukulele – workshop
Walter Baker Building – register on Eventbrite
Saturdays @ 3:30 – 5:30 pm 1/18, 1/25, 2/1, 2/8, 2/15
Fingerstyle Ukulele Plus – plucking sessions
Walter Baker Building – register on Eventbrite
5 x Saturdays @ 2:00 – 3:30 pm 1/18, 1/ 25, 2/1, 2/9*, 2/15
Ukulele for Non-Beginners
Walter Baker Building – register on Eventbrite
5 x Thursdays @ 7:30 – 8:50 pm 1/16 – 2/13
Continuing Ukulele
Arlington Community Education
5 x Thursdays @ 6:00 – 7:20 pm 1/16 – 2/13
Beginner Ukulele
Arlington Community Education
5 x Thursdays @ 4:30 – 5:45 pm 1/16 – 2/13
Ukulele for Youth (Ages 10 – 15)
Arlington Community Education
5 x Wednesdays @ 7:45 – 9:45 pm 1/15 – 2/12
Ukulele Strum Patterns
Cambridge Center for Adult Education
5 x Wednesdays @ 5:30 – 7:30 pm 1/15 – 2/12
Introduction to Fingerstyle Ukulele
Cambridge Center for Adult Education
6 x Tuesdays @ 6:30 – 7:45 pm 1/7 – 2/11
Introduction to Ukulele
Passim School of Music
5 x Mondays @ 7:30 – 9:00 pm 1/6, 1/27, 2/3, 2/10, 2/24
Ukulele for Non-Beginners
Walter Baker Building – register on Eventbrite
5 x Mondays @ 6:00 – 7:30 pm 1/6, 1/27, 2/3, 2/10, 2/17
Intro to Ukulele: “crash course” workshop + 4 additional sessions
Walter Baker Building – register on Eventbrite