Starting on a high note
Although it is still a rather minuscule group playing the accordion in Hong Kong, the instrument's fan base is growing slowly but steadily. Neil Li finds out more from the pros.
It took him almost a month to fix, but by the time he completed the task, having researched the instrument online, Tam was hooked to the accordion.
Afterward, he bought used accordions to learn to play and repair them by himself. His fascination with the instrument took him in 2018 to Castelfidardo, Italy, known as the epicenter of accordions and their builders, where he could study accordion repair from manufacturers.
"During my time in Italy, I met many accordion enthusiasts from around the world and realized that there actually weren't too many people who were properly trained to repair accordions," Tam said.
Today, his shop receives a monthly average of four accordions that need repairs, and around a dozen inquiries about lessons as well as purchasing accordions. While these numbers might not sound that impressive when compared with the status enjoyed by more well-known instruments, Tam was pleasantly surprised by the number of "hidden" accordion players in the city.
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