Carolina Ukulele Ensemble concert will pull on heartstrings

Sophomore Annie Proctor wants UNC students to expect the sensual at the upcoming Carolina Ukulele Ensemble concert.

“You can expect a lot of love. A lot of love in a lot of ways,” Proctor said.

Proctor is one of the 15 Carolina Ukulele Ensemble members who dedicate time every week to creating unique ukulele arrangements.

The ensemble’s fall concert, “CUE Goes Under the Covers,” will consist of mostly sensual love songs. Tickets have been on sale since Tuesday.

The concert’s theme is a play on their last concert, “CUE Goes Undercover,” an example of the Carolina Ukulele Ensemble’s efforts not to take themselves too seriously.

“It’s generally a goofy group of people, and I think one thing that makes us unique is that we don’t take ourselves too seriously. And that’s one thing we’ve strived to maintain — to not fall into the pressure of being a serious musical performance group,” said senior Stephanie Tepper, the president of the ensemble.

“We’ve worked that into our values.”

But the group does not want their lighthearted approach to affect their reputation as a musical performance group.

“We take our music seriously. We don’t take ourselves seriously,” junior Sarah Bonn said.

Tepper said the group aims to challenge peoples’ perception about the ukulele.

“It’s classically known as a dinky instrument you can’t do much with, but we’ve really tried to push the box,” Tepper said.

Carolina Ukulele Ensemble strives to accomplish this by using the ukulele base and baritone ukuleles in their performances.

Tepper, Bonn and Proctor all acknowledged that members of the UNC community might only know them from jam sessions around campus— which was exactly how Carolina Ukulele Ensemble began.

Bonn said carrying their ukuleles around with them is a good conversation starter.

“I forget that it’s weird to be holding a ukulele,” Bonn said.

Proctor said this happens especially in the spring, when she has her ukulele with her more often.

Although the musicians enjoy the social aspect of Carolina Ukulele Ensemble, they are ultimately bonded by their mutual love for music and the ukulele.

“We have fun and jam, but we also put a lot of effort into our music,” Bonn said.

“And I think that it really shows.”

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