An Interview with Cy Leo

Around the world with 80 great harmonica players

If social media has shown me anything, it’s that there are fantastic harmonica players everywhere in the world. So, I thought I’d start a journey to interview some of the greats among them. Who better to start with than two-time harmonica world champion Cy Leo. His father founded the Hong Kong Harmonica Association and gave Cy harmonicas to play with when he was only a few months old. He began ‘serious’ lessons on the harmonica at AN INTERVIEW age six with educator Mr Lee Sheung Ching. At only 25 years old, Leo’s career has shown brilliance in WITH CY LEO both the classical world and in jazz and fusion music. He has recently begun a masters degree in New York, where he was kind enough to chat with me. Sam Spranger What harmonicas are you using? I’ve gone through two stages. The first stage was my classical phase until I was 19, where I played the 12-hole Polle Harmonica from Norway. It’s probably the best for playing ‘pure’ classical music with its tone and its projection. As I stepped into jazz and other genres, I figured I needed a 16-hole chromatic and invested in a Cremona. I think the future of chromatic harmonica is the 16 hole. While I am still waiting for the ‘perfect’ 16 hole to come along, with the extra octave, I’ve received so many compliments on the range and tone of the instrument. How do you prepare for a performance? Before going on stage I am very conscious of my state of mind, and I evaluate my body condition, e.g. Are my lips dry? Is the instrument warmed up? I need to be calm enough to remember the notes from the piece but also have a readiness to respond to the conductor or any mistakes from the orchestra. After I step onto the stage I relax and just go with the flow. Interestingly, these two mindsets are very similar to playing classical and jazz. Playing jazz is so about playing in the moment. Classical requires a lot of calculation. However, even when playing classical, I love using that jazz mentality on stage and being more spontaneous. Favourite performance from the past? My first time competing in the World Harmonica Festival with my high school harmonica orchestra in 2009. Before we went to the competition, we practised every day for months to nail down the performance. By the time it came to the competition we had such a great feeling of camaraderie and enthusiasm. It was such a wonderful performance, and we received a five-minute standing ovation.

Do you have any favourite pieces to play? I enjoy the 1st movement from the Bach Cello Suite. The piece is so meditative yet also warms up every aspect of playing the instrument, such as corner switching and puckering. Do you pucker a lot? Yes, probably about 60% of my playing is pucker as it allows for more speed and control of air. What are you looking forward to in the future? I have so many interests in so many genres. I don’t have a specific goal. I just really enjoy exploring and creating music that excites me. I’ve come to New York to study because there are so many great ‘cats’ here that I want to work and learn with. It might not be the music I’ve made before such as concertos or fusion, but I’m hoping to make music that is timeless. You can listen to the whole 40 minute interview online: https://youtu.be/innFJa-vRqg