James Hill (Canadian musician) explained

James Hill
Birth Place:Canada
Instrument:Ukulele
Genre:Folk, blues
Occupation:Musician, educator
Years Active:2002–present

James Hill (born 1980) is a Canadian classically trained musician who has focused on the ukulele, both as his primary instrument and as a method of music instruction for school children. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of British Columbia.

He teaches the ukulele on his platform Uketropolis, which has several courses ranging from beginner to advanced. He is also the host of the Uketropolis podcast.

Music education

As a child, Hill benefited from a ukulele instructional program created by J. Chalmers Doane as shared in Teacher's Guide to Classroom Ukulele, 1977. The British Columbia school used Doane's system to teach music, and as a result, the Langley Ukulele Ensemble came into existence. Hill participated in the ensemble for over ten years.[1]

Hill envisioned creating a program to help spread this instrument and upon meeting Doane, they collaborated to create the "Ukulele in the Classroom" program in 2008.[2]

Hill seldom makes a concert appearance without also conducting workshops. He has taught throughout Canada[3] and the United States, as well as in Europe, Japan, Singapore[4] and New Zealand.[5] [6] He regularly lectures at the Queen's School of Music in Kingston, Ontario and has been a guest instructor at the Ukulele and Slack Key Guitar Institute held in Waimea, Hawaii each year.

Performances

Traveling throughout the world, Hill has played such venues as The Kennedy Center in July 2009[7] and The 40th Ukulele Festival in Hawaii.[8]

He appeared at the Ukulele Festival of Great Britain in summer 2013.[9]

He also appeared at the 10th anniversary Ukulele Hooley festival in August 2019 at Dun Laoghaire, Ireland. Ukulele Hooley is Europe’s longest running ukulele festival. [10]

Hill plays a variety of ukuleles; he has several Mike DaSilva custom made ukuleles, all with spruce tops, as well as a Mya Moe Tenor and a Beltona Resonator.[11]

Awards

In 2009, Hill collaborated with Anne Janelle (formerly Anne Davison) on cello and created the CD True Love Don't Weep. The Album won the 2009 Canadian Folk Music Awards Traditional Album of the Year.[12]

In 2015, his album The Old Silo was nominated for the Juno Award for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year – Solo.[13]

Personal life

Currently Hill lives in Nova Scotia with his wife and touring partner Anne Janelle and their son.[14] They were married on 21 September 2013.[15]

Discography

Publications

Notes and References

  1. Book: Tranquada , Jim . The Ukulele: a History. University of Hawaii Press. 2012. 160–162. 978-0-8248-3544-6.
  2. Web site: Ukulele in the Classroom . 31 May 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180723102636/http://www.ukuleleintheclassroom.com/index.htm . 23 July 2018 . dead .
  3. http://ticketstonight.ticketforce.com/eventperformances.asp?evt=2101 "Vancouver International Children's Festival presents James Hill – Ukulele Magic"
  4. Perera, Loretta, "Gig review: James Hill – 'Ukulele... seriously'", Time Out Singapore, 19 August 2010
  5. Scherer, Julie, "Turning the uke into an axe", Fairfax NZ News, 11 February 2013
  6. Mackenzie, Dene, "Review: Ukulele Orchestra and James Hill thrill captivated audience", Otago Daily Times, 11 March 2013
  7. http://www.kennedy-center.org/explorer/artists/?entity_id=22188&source_type=B Kennedy Center – James Hill
  8. http://www.staradvertiser.com/tgif/20100716_bittersweet_music.html?id=98578299 Bitter Sweet Music,Honolulu Star Advertiser 2010
  9. http://www.ukulelefestival.co.uk/TheLineUp.aspx Ukulele Festival of Great Britain 2013 Line Up
  10. https://ukulelehooley.com/?page_id=77 Ukulele Hooley 2019 Line Up
  11. http://www.ukuleleunlimited.com/2 James Hill, pp. 30–34, Ukulele Issue 2, Spring 2013
  12. Web site: 2009 Canadian Folk Music Awards . 31 May 2013 . 20 May 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220520144720/http://folkawards.ca/past-years/results-2009/ . dead .
  13. http://junoawards.ca/awards/yearly-summary/?group_id=197&category_ids=197&from_year=2015&to_year=&submit=Search Roots & Traditional Album of the Year – Solo
  14. Web site: Anne Janelle - Bio. 2021-07-03. annejanelle.com.
  15. Tetanish, Raissa, "Brookfield musicians bringing their sounds home", Truro Daily News, 24 April 2013

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