Enthralled by sweet harmonica music

SMJK Heng Ee Harmonica Band performing at Dewan Sri Pinang, George Town, Penang.

AN ensemble performance by SMJK Heng Ee Harmonica Band left its listeners spellbound at Dewan Sri Pinang.

The 70-member band lived up to the night’s theme ‘Spiritual Enlightenment’ by delivering an orchestral performance of contemporary pop songs and film soundtracks.

Some of the songs featured were Shakira’s hit song ‘Waka Waka’,the official song at the 2010 Football World Cup, the globalphenomenon ‘Despacito’ by Luis Fonsi, and ‘I’ll Make a Man Outof You’ from the Disney children classic movie ‘Mulan’.

SMJK Heng Ee senior assistant Dr Ooi Yek Hwa said the two-hour concert was held to highlight the beauty of the harmonica that is often overlooked.

“We want to celebrate the uniqueness of this instrumentas well as giving the students an opportunity to develop theirleadership skills by organising such an event,” he said, addingthat the teachers only playeda minor supervisory role atthe recent event.

Harmonica band member Lee Chun Liang, 16, said the group practised for eight months before the show.

“When I first joined the band three years ago, I had to learna lot of music theory before performing, but since then I have grown to love the harmonica.

“Being in the band has helped me gain a lot of experience inleading and organising the eventas a committee member,” he said.

The school’s principal Loh Soo Ping said the band, which has won numerous accolades, would be travelling to Beijing to take part in an international event in August.