It’s an improbable tale. A self-described jazz-singing London girl immigrates to western Canada and in just over a decade, she’s the namesake of what may be the largest ukulele school in the world outside of Hawaii. Located in a vintage Gothic Revival building in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Ruby’s Ukes attracts an incredible 350 students each term. So, how did this 5’2″ dynamo, with no stringed-instrument experience and a voice reminiscent of the great Billie Holiday, take a $25 blue ukulele and create Ruby’s Ukes?

Ruby is the nickname given to Daphne Roubini by her classmates as she was growing up in London, England. She moved to Vancouver in 2004 with her now-husband Andrew Smith to be closer to her aging parents. “When I moved to Vancouver, I wanted to focus more on music. Even though I was singing in London, I was primarily working at a very busy and successful practice as a massage therapist, healer, and personal coach. I was also taking jazz-piano lessons and I got to the point where I could play basic piano accompaniment.” On the rhythmic front, Daphne’s musical development also included the study of Argentinean tango and African hand drumming on the djembe.