New home for Pipkin: SPS enters contract to buy nearby 8.8 acres in Midtown
NEWS

Drury ukulele players take tiny instruments on big trip to Japan

The singing and ukelele group, DUkes, will play the Japanese Fall Festival in Springfield on Sept. 12-13.

Anyone who’s been to Big Momma’s Coffee & Espresso Bar on Tuesdays between 4:30 and 6 p.m. has heard the cheerful sounds of Drury students strumming their ukuleles and singing. They’re part of a club called DUkes, and this summer they took a break from their normal coffeehouse venue and played three shows in Isesaki, Japan.

The opportunity came thanks to Springfield’s Sister Cities Association. Each year, the association chooses a group from Springfield to play at the Isesaki Music Festival in August, and this year the DUkes, accompanied by Springfield Mayor Robert Stephens, were the guests of honor.

“It was such an amazing opportunity to represent Drury and Springfield,” says senior Kelsey Pressnall. “Everyone was so welcoming and hospitable during our time in Isesaki.”

The DUkes performed at a local hospital, a welcome dinner and on the main stage at the festival.

“We found that people loved to clap along to the songs, even if they weren’t ones you’d normally clap to,” Pressnall says. “We’d be singing the folk song ‘500 Miles’ and they would be dutifully clapping. Our audiences were very engaged.”

Mitch Barrett, a senior theater and education major, says the trip was “the perfect way to begin my senior year.”

While in Japan, students stayed with a host family to fully immerse themselves in the culture. For many, this was their favorite part.

“My host mom, brother and sister came to see me off when we left Isesaki,” Pressnall says. “I have to admit, I cried a little knowing I might never see them again. And I wasn’t the only DUkes member to do so!”

Led by professor of communication Rick Maxson, the DUkes have come a long way in their short life as a club — from a small group playing a few local gigs into international travelers representing all of Springfield.

“This was the trip of a lifetime,” Pressnall says. “I couldn’t have imagined a better experience.”

DUkes will play the Japanese Fall Festival in Springfield on Sept. 12 and 13.

By Trevor Cobb, sophomore writing major at Drury.