‘A Note to Harmonica Folks’
What’s next?
Since the day I was born, I have known the most prestigious harmonica competition in the world, The World Harmonica Festival (WHF). Every harmonicist around me see this as the olympics of harmonica, especially when they are both held once every four years.
My father’s ensemble King’s Harmonica Quintet was one of the very first few Asians harmonicist that appeared in the competition in Germany after the format of the competition turned from taped recording to live performance. In 1997, 3 years after I was born, they won their ‘World Championship’ in the WHF. I witnessed it.
It was a historical moment not only because was it a massive honour to be crowned in such reputable competition, it was the period when Asian harmonicists were approved by the Western.
Since then, the global harmonica community started to merge and interact. While harmonicists from the West continue to develop their artistry and career under a relatively strong cultural foundation for instrumental music, harmonica music to be exact, by virtue of the legends such as Tommy Reilly, Larry Adler, Toots Thielemans, Asians harmonicists struggle to further their artistry without the corresponding cultural foundation. A market for harmonica music in Asia simply do not exist.
Nevertheless, Asian culture values diligence and discipline. With the competition as the highest possible way to be rewarded as we develop our artistry, countless players began working day and night towards this very, if not only, visible goal.
Up till this day, you’d be surprised if there aren’t any Asian standing on the prizing podium in the international harmonica festivals. According to a Facebook post of the renowned Taiwanese Harmonicist in 2013, Lee Hsiao-ming, ‘If you show up at a harmonica festival, you can easily be surrounded by a group of ‘World Champion’s all queuing up for that plate at the buffet.’ Be him a chord harmonica player from an ensemble, a soloist at the open category or a 10 year old kid from the youth category… all claiming to be the ‘World Champion’.
Now the question is, Is the ‘World Champion’ in 1997 still the same ‘World Champion’ now? Or are we unconsciously abusing the only system we can count on to gain qualification to ourselves?
As Gerhard, the president of the World Harmonica Festival, has also repeatedly emphasized before, champion of any event of the WHF competition should NOT claim himself / herself as the World Champion. It should properly be addressed as Champion of the " XXX event" of the World Harmonica Festival.
While varies important figures in the global harmonica community started participating in this fierce debate, I was curious about the root of this controversy.
Would anyone accused Usian Bolt of abusing his Olympic gold medals to pursue further in his career? Would anyone question Danill Trifonov’s artistry if he claim himself the winner of Chopin Piano Competition? Could Michael Jordon ever obtain a ‘fake’ NBA championship?
Obviously, there is nothing wrong about winning and taking pride off an award. The real issue instead lies in the opposite side of the question. Is the existing harmonica competition rigorous enough to qualify the winner a ‘World Champion’? Or, should a ‘World Champion’ even exist in a musical setting?
In order to understand what a truly rigorous musical competition is, we began digging into the competitions of all instruments at the highest calibre. For instance, when studying the difference of the format of the International Tchaikovsky Competition with the World Harmonica Festival, we have realised how far behind the harmonica competition is constructed. I won the Solo Championship in the World Harmonica Festival 2013 only by playing a total of 10 minute of music. While a contestant at the qualifying round at the Tchaikovsky Competition would already have to prepare up to 30 minute of music. Meanwhile, not a single competition in the classical world would claim themselves the competition of the best. It seems like the title ‘World Champion’ could only be justified when it’s within sports, where the result can be calculated and compared. We can’t calculate art.
We have came a long way since the harmonica was invented 150 years ago. And I’m extremely excited to see new generation of player arising from all around the world. Nevertheless, while festivals are taking a pause during covid, we should make the best use of this period of time and rethink about how we could contribute to the culture and further bring our instrument to the next level.
So, what’s next? 🤔
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