Pitch perfect
Gordon Lee has won a top prize at the World Harmonica Festival and played at major international music venues. The lead act in a concert next week, Lee is also doing his bit to popularize the instrument in Hong Kong. Neil Li reports.
Trying out new techniques
Lee began playing the harmonica when he was 6 years old. He was learning other musical instruments at the time, but was immediately drawn to the unique sounds of the harmonica and how comfortable it felt in his hands. Ultimately, Lee decided to make the harmonica his main instrument. He studied under a number of harmonica teachers, traveling to places like New York to learn from noted musicians such as Howard Levy. The budding virtuoso would go on to make a name for himself, and perform at prestigious venues around the world, including Carnegie Hall in New York and the MuTh concert hall in Vienna.
In 2017, Lee was awarded the top prize in the "Adult Solo Chromatic Harmonica" category at the prestigious World Harmonica Festival. The event is held every four years, in the German city of Trossingen, known as the birthplace of the harmonica. Lee says that it is a dream of any harmonicist to be able to perform there. He was competing at the event for only the second time when he won the award.
Among the other wind instruments Lee plays is the sheng, a Chinese ancestor of the harmonica. As he was learning the instrument, he realized that some of the techniques used, such as those for tremolo and tonguing, could work for the harmonica as well. He applied these techniques while performing at the competition, to the surprise of the audience and judges.
"I wasn't sure if everyone would accept it because I don't think it is ever been done before," he says. "I was very proud that I was able to incorporate and introduce Eastern music philosophies and techniques into playing a Western musical instrument."
