He鈥檚 back.

Maybe not in the same capacity, but Peter Luongo has returned as a music instructor with the 91原创 Ukulele Ensemble, and he鈥檒l make his first public appearance with his young prodigies this Saturday at a sold-out Christmas concert in Fort 91原创.

Peter headed up the ensemble from its formative years in the 1980s, until 2013 鈥� when he retired and turned the reins over to his son, Paolo.

While Paolo remains in his position as senior musical director (overseeing the senior and transitional ensembles), Peter has stepped back into the fold, filling a vacancy as the director for the ensemble鈥檚 intermediate aged (typically eight to 12) musicians.

鈥淚 missed it鈥︹�� Peter admitted of working with children.

鈥淏ut more than anything, I want to contribute to the community through the kids.鈥�

While Peter spent the past decade in so-called retirement, he kept working and playing throughout.

The retired school administrator continues to mentor current and future uke teachers, and work with adult ukulele students.

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In fact, he has been and continues to direct adult ensembles in Canada and the U.S., and he is a regular presenter at ukulele festivals across North America and Europe.

He doesn鈥檛 envision himself ever giving up teaching the uke, be it to kids, adults, or other teachers.

But his return to 91原创 Ukulele Ensemble will admittedly be a short-term commitment 鈥� at least compared to his previous 32-year tenure with the association.

He expects he鈥檒l only be working with the kids and ultimately help train a teacher who can take over intermediate students instruction for the next year or so.

While he started working with the group of 23 kids back in September, this weekend will be his first time back on stage 鈥� during the Themes of Christmas show Dec. 10 at the Chief Sepass Theatre.

The show will feature more than 60 ukulele students 鈥� of various levels of experience 鈥� performing everything from traditional Christmas carols and the Nutcracker Suite to an arrangement put together by Peter called Jesu Joy.

With intermissions, it鈥檚 an hour and 45 minute show, and Paolo jokes that he鈥檚 limiting his dad to just 12 minutes on stage with the intermediate students.

But in actuality, since Peter has always been involved with the show鈥檚 presentation of the 12 Days of Christmas, the senior family member will actually get closer to 25 minutes of stage time, and Paolo added with a chuckle that he hopes it doesn鈥檛 go to his head.

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Peter is actually excited about the show and the chance to get the kids back performing for an audience.

鈥淚鈥檓 excited that the kids are going to get a chance to share their music making again,鈥� Peter said.

鈥淒uring COVID, 91原创 ukulele continued to meet鈥� we continue to meet with kids every week, whether it was online or in person. So the kids haven鈥檛 stopped making music, but they clearly missed being in front of audiences,鈥� Peter explained, noting this is one of their few big shows since the worst of the pandemic.

The students did perform in Victoria earlier this year, as well as at a tattoo in Vernon during the summer. But public shows have still been fairly limited.

鈥淚t was obvious during that time that the students recognize how much they actually missed getting a chance to share their music,鈥� said Peter.

鈥淎nd the audiences responded with such joy to again be able to hear the kids play. It鈥檚 magical. I don鈥檛 know if it鈥檚 too strong a word to use, but I think it鈥檚 part of the healing from the last two years, just being able to see the freshness and the hope the children bring returning to entertain and perform for the community. And, I鈥檓 excited to be part of it.鈥�

In addition to their hometown Christmas concert on Saturday, they performed last weekend for the Vancouver Police Department, will perform at a few seniors facilities in the coming weeks, will be on Global TV, and have three shows coming up at the PNE Winter Fair.

But, a lack of concerts in the past few years has meant a lack of fundraising opportunities, which meant the ensemble was unable to make its annual trip to Hawaii this past summer.

But planning is in the works for the senior ensemble to return to Hawaii next summer, and this concert and others coming up in the new year will go a long ways to making more travel possible again.

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