Heidi and Daniel are each wonderful artists in their own rights, but we decided to put their bios together on one page because we loved this photo of them at the Ghost Ranch in New Mexico.

DANIEL WARD BIO
Daniel Ward’s polymath approach is born from his passion and appetite for the diversity of music. Born in Los Alamos, NM to a nuclear chemist/conductor, he holds degrees in classical guitar and composition from the University of New Mexico, where he is currently head of Guitar Studies. As a performer and composer, his work spans a wide ranging gamut: flamenco guitar, heavy metal, virtuosoic ukulele, classical string quartets and four-hands piano pieces, kid’s music, jazz, commercial jingles, film soundtracks… he has what musicians call “big ears”.

His first instrument, the trumpet, informs his sense of breath and melody on guitar, where he found his natural abilities better suited. Honing his skills in the study of classical guitar, he found solo work stressful and lonely, and so gravitated towards more social genres. Fortunately, as a New Mexican, he found himself in an epicenter of World music, where opportunities to play and learn abound. Albuquerque’s Flamenco scene is the largest and most vibrant outside of Spain. Touring with dance companies provided him a “road scholarship” with great guitarists who taught him his 100 mile-and-hour technique. As Ottmar Liebert’s right-hand rhumbero on successive world tours, he held down the groove, and learned the patience and humility it takes to survive as a professional.

In 2009 his life changed abruptly when he was given his first ukulele. Within a year he was teaching at festivals, translating his flamenco work onto four strings, writing etudes for students and inspiring awe with his fresh take on the most social of stringed instruments.

HEIDI SWEDBERG BIO
Heidi Swedberg is passionate about people, which is why she loves the ukulele- the people’s instrument. Encouraging all ages to engage and connect through music, she teaches, writes, lectures and performs for the youngest children to older adults.

Born in Hawaii, her first ukulele came from the Easter Bunny when she was 5 years old. Heidi has helped start uke programs across the globe, from Los Angeles libraries, schools in Mexico to orphanages in Haiti.

She has been a performer for more than 30 years, working in music, film and television, is a contributing editor for Ukulele Magazine, where she writes about community and connectedness, and collaborates with her husband Daniel Ward on recordings and instructional books, including “Tis the Season for ‘Ukulele” and “Color-Along Ukulele: a Method Book for those Drawn to Play”.