JSMA Handbell Competition
Mioie Kwok 9D
Date of Competition: Saturday, 14th March 2015
I am extremely delighted to have participated in this year’s Hong Kong Joint School Music Association Competition with my friends. After practicing numerous times behind the curtains for an entire school term, the time has finally come for the school handbell teams to shine.
Unbeknown to many, handbell is a highly challenging instrument to play. It is very different from most instruments that people choose to learn because handbell is all about unity; it takes not one, but a whole group of ringers to bring a beautiful composition to life. Handbell requires skills, effort, teamwork, determination and of course passion for music to play. It also brought our teammates together as we quickly became friends.
Despite the difficulty of the chosen piece, we weren’t ones who give up so easily. For this competition, our team played Capriccio No. 2 from Rejoice and Be Glad, which is a very interesting piece with various demanding techniques and contrasting parts. It took us quite a number of practices before we were able to play the entire piece smoothly. Then, we proceeded to perfect our performance by emphasizing the musical decorations and even creating “funny” (as described by the adjudicators) movements to specific parts of the piece. This enabled us to enjoy and explore the music rather than strictly playing what is written on the score.
On the day of the competition, I felt a flush of adrenaline pumping in my veins; it was nerve-wracking and very exciting at the same time. We had been preparing and waiting (very impatiently, might I add) for a chance to perform since the beginning of the school year, therefore this competition is highly anticipated by the whole team. It was also a brilliant kick-start to the stream of performances and competitions we will attend in the following months. The moment the whole room fell silent as the whole handbell team stood behind the handbell tables, waiting for our amazing instructor, Ms. Joyce Leung, to walk out, it felt like a moment of truth; a moment to see whether all our efforts have finally paid off. A moment to know whether wehave improved since a year ago, when most of us performed in this exact same competition.
As our song came to an end with one final ring of a handbell, I felt beyond ecstatic; we only made a few minor mistakes as a whole. The other handbell team from our school also presented an amazing performance of the overture from Carmen. It is an extremely complex piece, which they managed to master with flying colors. Both teams are extremely delighted as we won a gold and silver award respectively. We will continue to work on the constructive feedback we were given to further develop and improve on our piece; perhaps our next performance might even be flawless!