Evandro is 22 years old and is from Farroupilha, a city in Rio Grande do Sul, a state in the south of Brazil. He’s a musician, and a composer. He plays acoustic guitar, ukulele, Weissenborn and sings in a band called Jacarandá. They are finishing their first CD and it will be launched in August. He said he entered the competition because he’s both a Maton and a ukulele fan. It’s not easy to find ukuleles in Brazil, and generally, the ones available are not of good quality. Evandro bought a Maton guitar whilst travelling Europe some years ago. ‘Maton is more than just I brand, it’s a piece of art. I have a Maton EBG808CL, and it is my little baby, I just simply love this guitar, and well, I was planning to buy one for lots of time, and I checked all the Maton distributors that sell the Maton EBG808CL in the countries I was going to visit in Europe before I travelled. So I bought it and did some busking around the Europe with my Maton. I love how everything that Maton does sounds unique, you can feel that all their instruments are made to get the best of the wood that made the instrument’.

Evandro loves ukuleles because they are his ‘travelling buddies‘, ‘it’s so easy to take them around’, he says. ‘They are small and light and they fit everywhere. I love taking my uke with me to trails. We have some amazing palces around here, so I take my uke to the top of mountains, where I can relax and enjoy the sun. And I take my uke to some waterfalls, where I can sit, relax, play, and write new music. So, there’s something about the sound of the uke that really fits perfectly with nature, that’s why I love taking it with me anywhere I go’.

Evandro looks forward to receiving his Cairns Ukulele Festival Maton concert ukulele and has promised to record a song and put it on YouTube, so watch this space!

The second most voted-for photograph was submitted by Chelsea Hirschman from Cairns. Chelsea and her friend decided to travel around their hometown of Cairns, but of course not without our beloved ukes! From strumming along with the waves at Palm Cove Jetty, to finger picking to the sound of the birds whistling and trees swaying on rusted old utes, they played ’til their fingertips blistered. The result is shown below.

Congratulations to the winners!