Merry Times in Maryland at Strathmore UkeFest’s 17th Year

BY NICOLAS GRIZZLE | FROM THE WINTER 2025 ISSUE OF UKULELE MAGAZINE

Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer are an organized duo who have been music teachers and performers since the 1970s. One of their many ukulele-focused endeavors, in addition to contributing to this magazine, is the annual Strathmore UkeFest in North Bethesda, Maryland, which saw its 17th annual gathering in August. The five-day event sold out again this year, with 160 students taking the plunge to immerse themselves in four-string master classes. This festival is not only a celebration of the instrument, but a way to seriously improve one’s ukulele chops in a short amount of time. 

The length of the event allows students to learn new material on-site and not just get a lot of homework. “We try to structure the festival so that people will leave playing better than they came in,” says Fink. “We like to see that advancement happen in-class.”

The fest began in 2008 as part of the Strathmore Performing Arts Center’s summer concert series, which offers free weekly concerts for the community at its top-tier indoor/outdoor events venue (the center is also home to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra). After that first-year concert, the venue asked Fink and Marxer if they could return the following year and expand the program, and the rest is history. Now it includes four days of instruction, jams, open mics, and plenty of fun and frivolity, capped off by an evening concert featuring the instructors and an advanced student ensemble. 

Instructors this year included Jeff Peterson, Daniel Ho, Jim Beloff, Aaron Keim, Maureen Andary, and, of course, Fink and Marxer. “Part of it is that we tend to know the instructors—especially this year. We all have known each other for a long, long time. So when we got together, it was like family,” says Fink. “It was a party atmosphere with the instructors and that just feeds through the whole festival.”

The concert this year was moved indoors at the last minute due to inclement weather, but about 750 folks still came for the show, most with ukuleles in hand. Usually, the concert takes place outdoors  and upwards of 1,500 people attend, picnicking on the lawn while listening, dancing, and strumming along. Each instructor took turns playing ukulele during the show, but since they’re all multi-instrumentalists the group was able to fill out a whole band including bass, drums, vocals, and other stringed instruments.

Though it was their first time all playing together, they were completely in sync. “We have total trust in each other and we know that we can throw something at one of the other instructors and they’re going to pick it right up and throw something back at us and we’re going to pick it up,” says Fink.

Another unique facet of this festival is that longtime students sometimes end up going into the uke world as a profession, and then later end up teaching a class. For example, Andary, a music teacher in the Washington, D.C., area, started attending 12 years ago as a student. Says Fink, “We kind of nurtured her opportunities in teaching. I was teaching a class and I had her co-teach it with me for the purpose of saying, OK, this is your class now. And teaching has become a major part of her livelihood.”

At this year’s pre-festival teacher training masterclass, Sioux Thompson gave a workshop about how adults learn differently than children. Thompson has a background in organizational leadership, but this was her first time leading a class at the festival. She has played guitar since age 11 but was “still kind of making friends with ukulele,” she says, when she started in Strathmore’s “confident beginner” classes eight years ago. Last year, she pitched the idea for her class, but didn’t bank on who would be in attendance. “It was stressful because I was in a room full of people I deeply admire,” including instructors from the festival, she says. But from the high level of engagement from her class of 18 fellow teachers she could tell that it was well received. 

“A lot of us are teaching people who are picking up a uke for the first time and they’re 50 to 60 years old,” says Fink. “This is a whole new thing for them. Sioux is an expert in explaining some of the things that are going to help them learn faster and learn better.”

The festival is geared toward musicians and teachers of almost all skill levels, from confident beginners to advanced players. For the total newbie to ukulele, Marxer offers a free one-month membership to her online lessons on Peghead Nation to get up to speed. About 40 percent of the students are local, Fink recons, with the rest staying at local hotels or with friends in the area.

Something Thompson learned in her first year as an instructor is that Strathmore has three requirements of its teachers. First, each has to know their instrument and be able to perform well. Second, they have to be able to teach a variety of students and communicate their lessons effectively. And third, they have to be committed to building community. “I think that sets Strathmore apart, because it really is all about the community,” she says.