Melanie Doane is quietly one of the most influential people in the world of the ukulele. Daughter of J. Chalmers Doane (the educator who introduced a systematic ukulele program that spread throughout Canada), Melanie has had a rich career as a actress in musicals, as a Juno award winning musician in the pop scene, and as the executive director of the Doane Music School, a ukulele program reaching roughly 1000 students in the Toronto area. In addition, Melanie produced and starred in a family/children’s focused short format TV series called Ukulele U. While episodes of Ukulele U are available in Canada on YouTube, a couple of episodes are available on YouTube in the USA.
In this episode, host Chris Russell visits with Melanie Doane about her musical journey—of which ukulele has and continues to play an important role.
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:01:02) About J. Chalmers Doane
(00:11:38) Northern Ukuleles
(00:14:54) Pursuing Musical Theater
(00:19:50) Experiences in Pop Music
(00:23:05) Doane Music School
(00:38:40) D6 Tuning and Linear Tuning
(00:44:51) Musical Legacy
(00:48:27) Size of the Doane Music School Program
(00:51:13) Melanie’s Mya Moe Ukulele
(00:52:17) Supporting the Doane Music School
(00:56:21) Working Through the Pandemic
(00:59:45) Doane Music School Collaborations
(01:02:03) Ukulele U Television Program
UkeStuff Podcast 