08-03-24

In the mystery of music lie the secrets that a talent will spend his whole life to uncover. He likes to feel un-settled and has huge inventories of worries of the unknown. When trials of life, one after another, come to test his faith in art, doubt will be removed one day if he sets his ultimate hope in that he loves—art.

CY Leo (何卓彥) was born in 1994 and has never been tired of harmonica since the age of 6 when he started to learn the tunes from his father who is a well-known harmonica player in Hong Kong. The harmonica, also known as a mouth harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument in many genres, notably in blues, country and classical music. It was adapted from an old Chinese instrument called Sheng (笙) more than 1000 years ago.

We are only the stars and, of course, jealous of the moon: Leo, already possessing the talent of music, has a good look with the similar charm of Timothée Chalamet. He also has a great height, an impressive academic qualification (occupational therapy), an enviable family background in which both parents are medical professionals and his younger brother is a teacher, and finally a sweet girlfriend and they fly in pairs to wherever he performs.

Leo is a beautiful butterfly that is also a busy bee. He practises harmonica more than 3 hours a day. He makes online video lectures to teach people how to play harmonica. He produces harmonica concerts and CDs. He takes part in activities which promote community support for harmonica. The award given by Hong Kong Arts Development Council in 2020 is just a diamond Koh-i-Noor which glitters among many crown jewels that are already his other international awards. CY Leo is a supper for many female sharks. This is a figurative speech but you can know the degree of his popularity that I am referring to. Leo was not mad at my joke and responded politely, “I am simply a lucky man!”

I asked Leo, “Are you too good to be true? I just attended your concert. Your music is totally stylistic! The audience was respectful of your work.” He faltered, “Currently, things for me are too good to be true. But, fears of the unknown have the power to trouble my heart, over and over again.” I was puzzled and raised the question, “What kind of fear?” He replied seriously, “I am a family man. I love to be as closely as possible with my family. After I get married and have kids, I guess my wife and children cannot fly with me to do worldwide performances. The hotel room empty of them will be the saddest place.”

He continued, “What is at a peak is sure to go down. If I lose my popularity one day and earn substantially less, shall I be able to survive and have enough money to be a breadwinner? Where can I get bacon to bring home?” I asked, “So?” He said, “I think I need to be a music teacher at the same time so that I can add another string to my bow.” I remarked, “Always remember: as a top musician, your focus will determine your success. I am a lawyer and writer. I sometimes do think I am neither here nor there.”

Leo thought about it for a while, “Stable income matters but I shall definitely not treat pop music as my career. I do play pop music from time to time so as to bridge serious music and popular taste. I want to remain a fine art musician. I love harmonica. It is light, easy, handy and affordable. It should be music for everyone especially youngsters. They can talk to the music when they are happy or moody—anywhere, just getting a harmonica out of the pocket. The sound quality of harmonica is close to that of a human voice. When you play harmonica, it seems like someone singing side by side with you! I disagree to the suggestion that harmonica is not a serious music and it is just great for busking only.”

In life, we cannot have everything at the same time. Give or take. Win or lose. Happy or unhappy. Love or loneliness. What we can try very hard will be at best a balance. A British American author Adam Osborne once said this, “There is no free lunch. So, one must know where to go to get a good inexpensive sandwich.” Even if there is no sandwich. Don’t worry. For the greatest hunger, art can feed.

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