Ukulele Virtuoso Taimane to Makes Musco Center Debut

Taimane, long a sensation in her native Hawaii and now a rising world music star, makes her Musco Center for the Arts debut on Sunday, October 20, 2019 at 4pm. Her Taimane - Elemental Tour, which has drawn sold-out houses across North America, brings the ukulele virtuoso and hypnotic vocalist to Orange County for one night only.

Joined by her backing quartet and dancer, Hawaii's '2019 Favorite Entertainer of the Year' transports her audience to a modern Polynesian paradise through seductive singing and phenomenal ukulele playing that incorporates styles from traditional to "shredding."

The Austin American Statesman music critic raved about her 2019 SXSW performance: "I didn't see anyone at the festival doing anything close to what she does on stage. She shreds on ukulele and rocks everything from Beethoven to Led Zeppelin. Somehow she manages to not only rock out but connect the audience with meaningful Hawaiian traditions and dances."

Accompanying her are classical guitarist Ramiro Marziani, percussionist Jonathan Heraux, violinist Baethoven who also sings background vocals, and the Polynesian dancer Liʻo.

Tickets are $25 to $48, and available at www.muscocenter.org or by calling Musco Center at 844-626-8726 (844-OC-MUSCO).

'Taimane - Elemental Tour'

Born and raised in Honolulu, the Hapa Samoan-descended songwriting vocalist and ukulele virtuoso is renowned for her fierce and inventive style of playing the four-string island staple.

Taimane - which means "diamond" in Samoan - began playing the ukulele at age 5. At 13, while jamming on the beach with local musicians, she was discovered by Hawaiian music icon Don Ho and invited to be part of his venerable Waikiki variety show. There she quickly became a weekly regular, transfixing audiences as she blazed across the full spectrum of rock, flamenco, pop, classical and traditional Hawaiian tunes. Under the tutelage of modern ukulele master Jake Shimabukuro, she further focused her style palette and began composing music.

Earlier this year she won the "2019 Favorite Entertainer of the Year Award" from Nā Hōkū Hanohano, the prestigious Hawaiian equivalent of the Grammy Awards. With 250,000 global online followers and video views at 15 million and growing, Taimane has carved out a unique niche in music. While continuing to subvert and transcend expectations of what the ukulele can do, she merges a wide-array of genres, from Bach to rock and flamenco infernos to tribal hymns, all while summoning a seemingly limitless palette of emotions via an instrument previously viewed as a restricted device.

Tickets priced from $25 to $48 are available online at www.muscocenter.org or by calling Musco Center at 844-626-8726 (844-OC-MUSCO). All print-at-home tickets include a no-cost parking pass. Musco Center for the Arts is located on the campus of Chapman University at 415 North Glassell, Orange, Calif.

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