An enjoyable evening is guaranteed when renowned musicians and music educators Daniel Ward and Heidi Swedberg take the stage of the Ajijic Cultural Center on Wednesday, January 27, 7 p.m.
Their concert, “Turning the World Around … Making the World a Better Place Four Strings at a Time,” will not only showcase their musical talents and personalities but also include a few numbers with the 30 students of the Academie de Ukuleles de la Laguna.
This flourishing lakeside academy started life following a ukulele demonstration given by Ward and Swedberg in January 2015.
Ward is excited about returning to Ajijic for a second teachng assignment at a week-long ukulele retreat.
“I’m wowed by the progress I hear the programs that started just a short year ago have made and can’t wait to see and hear them in action,” he says. “It certainly will make for a rich celebration.”
An accomplished musician, composer and educator, Ward spends much of his time traveling and playing at ukulele retreats and seminars, as well as at shows and events featuring other musical genres.
“Best of all is a trip like this where I can spend time with people who want to sit down and enjoy making music together,” he says. “It makes me feel like I am with family.”
Ward is a commissioned classical composer and has degrees in classical guitar and composition. He is a consultant and music typographer for music method books, and writes as a columnist for ukulele magazines. His most recent CD, “El Ukulele,” was released in late 2015.
Swedberg is probably best known for her role as Susan Bidding Ross, George Costanza’s ill-fated, envelope-licking fiancée on 27 episodes of “Seinfeld.” She appeared in dozens of other television shows, including “Matlock,” “Thirty-something,” “Quantum Leap,” “Brooklyn Bridge,” Northern Exposure,” “Sisters,” “Roc” and “Touched by an Angel.”
Swedberg received her first uke from the Easter Bunny when she was four. She started playing the instrument again, more seriously, in 1992 when she took the role of a singer/songwriter for a television pilot.
Swedberg has released four CDs and in 2015, together with Ward, produced a coloring book and CD set to teach ukulele to children.
“I love working with kids,” she says. “I used to teach art to children and was always struck by their clarity of expression and the fearlessness with which they work. You can only do that if you are a very young child or a master artist.”
In a recent piece for a Ukulele magazine, Swedberg reflected on the power of music: “What I have learned is that in the end, we leave holding dear that which we embraced in the beginning. The songs I sing to Alzheimer’s patients are the same songs I sing to toddlers. There is power in even the most humble of songs, when sung from the heart, and there is beauty in every stage of life when you can connect with others.”
Explaining the title of next week’s concert in Ajijic, Swedberg says: “People are starving for a way to interact, to really be able to share, to connect, and nothing in the world connects us as well as music does. The four-stringed ukulele is perfect, it’s a simpler musical instrument than a kazoo, but better than a kazoo. You can sing while you play it. This may be the best way possible to turn the world around.”
Concert goers attending “Turn the World Around … Four Strings at a Time” will hear humble songs interspersed with others that are far more complex, along with Ward’s flamenco and a pair of Mexican folk songs from the Academie students. They’ll leave humming, singing and prepared to start turning the world around.
Tickets for the event are available at Mia’s Boutique and at Diane Pearl Colecciones.