Ukulele love songs at the library Feb. 11

Minnesota native Hanna Cesario will perform a free concert of love songs on her ukulele at the Montgomery Public Library on Tuesday, Feb. 11, starting at 7 p.m. The event, which will feature popular songs from Ella Fitzgerald to The Beatles, is sponsored by the Waseca-Le Sueur Regional Library System.

Cesario brings what some call a "refreshing approach" to a timeless instrument and genre by diving deep into every song, giving purpose to each phrase, each note, each word, and everything in-between.

“I love finding a new chart and getting familiar with it: dissecting it, twisting it around, playing with the strumming patterns and vocal inflections, exploring the lyrics to find that precise emotion to expose, and then putting it back together again to form my own interpretation," she stated. "The composers and musicians of the jazz era have captured a lyric and style that gives me a thrill to perform.”

Cesario graduated from the University of Minnesota, Duluth, in 2012 with a Bachelor's Degree in Vocal Music. Although she studied classical music, she found herself always going back to jazz, and at the end of her fourth year, she picked up a friend's ukulele and started teaching herself how to play. The instrument paired nicely with her sweet, clear, melodic voice.

In 2015, Cesario produced and published her first Jazz album full of her own arrangements of favorite standards and one original. The album was recorded in the basement of the Red Herring Lounge and has some familiar Duluth names on it.

In addition to solo performances, Cesario also performs with the Dan Duffy Orchestra, a five-piece Hot Club Jazz Band, and Jazz 10, a ten-piece dance band.

For more information on this event contact the Waseca-Le Sueur Regional Library System at 507-835-2910.