Ukulele lady

SINGING along to ukuleles at Wellington's Deluxe Café four years ago has led to a new life for ex-Stratford woman Carmel Russell.
Out of casual playing for fun at the café emerged the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra, of which Carmel is a member.
The orchestra was in Taranaki last week playing concerts as part of the Taranaki International Festival of the Arts.
Last Thursday they played in Hawera and on Friday, Saturday and Sunday they played to sell-out crowds at the Festival Spiegeltent in New Plymouth.
Carmel loves the interaction and banter with the crowd.
The orchestra has a relaxed approach to their concerts and they play a wide variety of music, from Johnny Cash to David Bowie songs.
The have played at WOMAD, sell-out concerts at Wellington's Michael Fowler Centre, at the Wanaka Festival of Colours and arts festivals all over the country.
Carmel feels at home with the group. Family gatherings at Whangamomona when she was young involved singalongs and she always wanted to be a rock star.
She learned some piano and guitar skills but called herself a bedroom singer.
"Now I love playing in the orchestra. It's a lot of fun," she said.
Carmel was born and raised in Stratford and has produced theatre shows in New Zealand and overseas and worked for Weta Workshops. She now works for the Ministry of Education in Wellington.