| Wonderwall is an authorized dealer of: KALA Ukuleles Greg Hawkes' ukulele maker George Harrison's ukulele maker! |
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| Special Guests: Greg Hawkes (The Cars) Mark and Brett Hudson ...and more! For more info, Fest tickets: www.thefest.com |
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| Sitar Emporium LLC dba Wonderwall Music Shoppe & Emporium _________________________________________________________________________ For immediate release May 2009 'PLAY A PART IN HISTORY!' WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT FOR LARGEST UKULELE ENSEMBLE Chicago, August 16, 2009 Sitar Emporium LLC dba Wonderwall Music Shoppe & Emporium, and the Fest For Beatles Fans, (www.thefest.com) are partnering together in bringing ukulele enthusiasts and Beatles fans in a attempt to set a new Guinness World RecordsTM for the Largest Ukulele Ensemble this summer during the annual Beatles convention, "The Fest For Beatles Fans", August 14-16, Hyatt Regency O'hare Hotel. This attempt will take place on the last day of the Fest, Sunday, August 16. Time to be announced. Check the official Fest website for admission tickets and additional Fest info. www.thefest.com "With thousands of Beatles fans converging at this annual Beatles festival at the Hyatt, it just seemed like the right place and event to do this. So, it wasn't too hard convincing Mark Lapidos, the New Jersey Fest owner/promoter of the 'how' and 'why' of it all, said Chicagoland business owner, musician and artist, GiGi Wong-Monaco who is spear-heading this world-record event. The official Guinness World RecordsTM count is 401 ukulele players set in Stockholm, 2007. "We can easily beat that number at the Fest!" says an excited Wong-Monaco who, with her husband Clar Monaco, is a regular Fest vendor. As one of the popular booths at the Fest, their Sitar Emporium LLC booth shows the India-side of the Beatles, selling and demonstrating Sitars, Tablas, and other Indian instruments. Since the addition of Ukuleles to their booth and their Oak Park store, Wonderwall Music Shoppe & Emporium, it's become a huge hit especially since the ukulele was a passion of Beatle George Harrison. A special commemorative ukulele design will be available only through Wonderwall. "Last year's special Fest guest, Neil Innes (The Rutles, Bonzo, Monty Python), an ukulele player himself, helped 'set a Fest record for most ukulele players onstage at the Fest'. There were 28 players from all around the country playing the Beatles song, "I Saw Her Standing There" said Wong-Monaco who organized the group. The official venue for ukulele practices will be at Eastgate Cafe', 102 Harrison Street Oak Park IL 60304. Weekly Thursday night practices begin in June will be led by Wong-Monaco, founder of the popular Oak Park ukulele group, The Harrison Street Ukulele Players. A video showing how to play the selected Beatles song on ukulele will be on YouTube soon. "There are plenty of connections between the ukulele, Hawai'i, the Beatles, and Chicago", says Honolulu native GiGi Wong-Monaco, born and raised just minutes away from where another Honolulu native two years her juinor also lived: President Obama. So that's one reason. Here are a few more.... Oprah Winfrey has a home on the Big Island of Hawai'i, is a big Obama supporter, and a known fan of Sir Paul McCartney who appeared on her show; Sir Paul plays the ukulele like his former mate George Harrison who was also known for playing and composing many songs on the ukulele, and bought a place on Mau'i which the family still owns today; the Beatles played gave a concert at then Cominskey Park (Cellular One Field); John Lennon gave his famous apology speech at a special news conference in Chicago; the Beatles stopped over in Honolulu in the 1960's; Chicago's favorite Beatles DJ and #1 Beatles fans is Terri Hemmert of WXRT and host of "Breakfast With The Beatles"; the world's longest running Beatles festival, The Fest For Beatles Fans, which Terri Hemmert emcees; Chicago has hundreds of ukulele players and dozens of ukulele groups! And with the City of Chicago trying to get the bid to host the 2016 Olympics, why not add the Guinness World RecordsTM title to Chicago? But most importantly, the ukulele is just so fun to play and always puts a smile on people's faces. Wong-Monaco is the founder and organizer of a fast growing ukulele group in Oak Park called the Oak Park Ukulele Meetup Group aka The Harrison Street Ukulele Players. Within just three months of its inception, the group was invited to perform live on WBBM CBS2 Chicago "Early Morning News" prior to and for Obama's Inauguration Day, as well as perform at Chicagoland's only Obama Inauguation Bash honoring Obama's Hawaiian heritage organized by Wong-Monaco. The group performed two special Obama songs writtened by Wong-Monaco and fellow ukulele group member Brenda Watkins and can be viewed on YouTube. The ukulele group welcomes new players every Thursday night at Eastgate Cafe' 7P-9P and plays Beatles, Hawaiian, Showtunes, Tin Pan Alley and other genres. Wong-Monaco has formed a committee to assist with the organization of this world record event. Donations by individuals and businesses for sponsorship, monetary, in-kind contributions, etc. to help with related expenses are greatly appreciated. Contact GiGi Wong-Monaco at: wonderwallemporium@yahoo.com or call 708.948.7986 or 708.754.7026 More info, go to links: Fest For Beatles Fans: www.thefest.com Guinness World RecordsTM: www.guinnessworldrecords.com Sitar Emporium: www.sitaremporium.com/WWSpecialEvents Wonderwall Music Shoppe & Emporium: www.sitaremporium.com/WonderwallEmporium.html The Harrison Street Ukulele Players: www.sitaremporium.com/WWHarrisonStUkulelePlayers Oak Park Ukulele Meetup Group: www.ukulele.meetup.com/89 ###### |
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