A small group of music students are leading a revival of the harp in schools
While today's students are more likely to be familiar with smartphones than stringed instruments, a small group of students are leading a revival of the harp in the city's schools, writes Heidi Chik Wiseman
A colourful painting of children playing myriad musical instruments adorns the back of the spacious, light-filled music room of the Sheng Kung Hui Kei Fook Primary School. In the middle, seated neatly on a row of beige coloured chairs, are 14 giggly girls and one chubby boy. By the windowsill are six small harps - the kind held by angels in romantic oil paintings - in vibrant hues of red, blue, purple and natural wood.
"We have a total of 20 students, but we don't have enough harps for everyone. So two students share one harp between them," says Chiu Pik-kay, the music teacher.
Six students are chosen to pose with the harps for the photographer. The rest stand by the window waiting for further instructions.
Hong Kong Harp Chamber loaned us some harps ... We are really grateful for that
Located in Cheung Sha Wan, an older part of Kowloon filled with industrial buildings and housing estates, Kei Fook is one of two primary schools in Hong Kong which incorporates harp lessons into their regular school hours; they call them "activity lessons". The school's music teacher actually teaches the instrument herself and the students get to learn without paying any extra fees. Students who cannot make it due to a clash with other activities take their lessons after school.
"Miss Chiu was honest about how expensive these instruments are, but she offered to bring her own harp back for students to try it out," says principal Chan Chi-wing. Due to a good response from the students, she soon got support from her principal to buy a few small harps. "Hong Kong Harp Chamber also loaned us some harps while we were waiting for the instruments to arrive, which took nearly two months. We are really grateful for that," says Chiu.
Formed in autumn 2005, Harp Chamber is the first resource centre in Hong Kong to promote harp learning, playing, performing and appreciation. They host 200 hours of harp education programmes a year. These include storytelling, talks, workshops, educational concerts, classes, helping schools to form ensembles and providing harpists to local orchestras.
The Royal Schools of Music, which administers music examinations internationally, says there are about 150 pianists for every harp candidate, so harpists are few and far between. Chan acknowledges that he is only able to introduce something as unusual as the harp at his school because he happens to have the right teacher. He gives another good reason for broadening his students' horizons: "Secondary schools have a 30 per cent quota for selecting their own students. So far, we have had three or four students each year who have been accepted into so-called 'elite' secondary schools because of their outstanding performance in extracurricular activities, such as sport or music."
