Ukulele Scramble benefit concert for Sing For Shelter

The Ukulele Scramble will play a benefit concert for Sing For Shelter, a project of Friends of Hampshire County Homeless Individuals. http://www.hamphomeless.org/

The performance takes place Saturday, December 15 at 2:00 PM, in the Coolidge Museum at Forbes Library.

Donations of any size will be gratefully accepted, and will be used to give homeless individuals food, shelter, and a hand up to a better life.

The Ukulele Scramble sing and play songs from the past 500 years — Renaissance music, 19th century parlor and art songs, jazz and swing standards, and even some rock and roll.  They update, revise and rewrite lyrics for many of these songs — often humorously — and perform them on a variety of ukuleles and other small stringed instruments.  They are based in Western Massachusetts.

Richard Perlmutter, aside from playing ukulele, plays piano, guitar and mandolin. He is the creator, lyricist and featured performer of Beethoven’s Wig, winner of over 50 awards, including 4 Grammy Award Nominations. He has also produced recordings for other artists incuding Grammy Award winning group Nickel Creek; Victoria Jackson, from Saturday Night Live, and Grammy Lifetime Achievement winners Ella Jenkins and Tom Paxton. Richard’s songs have been made into animated films by Emmy Award Winning Smiley Guy Studios, and he has toured nationwide and performed in the Hollywood Bowl, Grammy Museum, and Rockefeller Plaza (on the Today Show). Two colections of his songs, as well as choral editions, have been published by Alfred Music.

Robin Hoffman began playing ukulele after retiring from her career as a professional ballet dancer, with companies including the Joffrey Ballet and Metropoplitan Opera Ballet. She performend throughout the United States at theaters including the Kennedy Center, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, and the Metropolitan Opera House. Robin is also an illustrator with two published books to her credit, Live From The Audience and Jalopy Bands — featuring on location drawings of musicians including the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Jake Shimabukuro and The Nields. She also illustrates the popular Shirley Link mystery series for middle school readers. Robin teaches ukulele in Northampton, MA, and at Greenfield Community College.