By Chris Moffitt
Every business, every school, every team, and every individual deep down somewhere has the ultimate goal of becoming a champion — of becoming the best. Quinn and Liam Collins, brothers in ninth and seventh grade, respectively, became champions this past summer. As outstanding accordionists, having played since they were around 5 years old, they competed in a national competition called the American Accordion Festival in Baltimore, Md.
When asked if he was nervous for the competition, Quinn truthfully replied, “Oh yes. I was going against people a lot older than me — 17 and above — one guy was 25!” Competing against much older and more experienced musicians, anyone would be nervous.
Regardless of the butterflies fluttering in the Collins brothers’ stomachs, Quinn and Liam both returned home from Baltimore with many impressive awards. Quinn won first place in two classes and second place in the United States Virtuoso Senior. This is the equivalent of a national accordion championship for 16 to 35 year-olds, but Quinn is just 14! He also won the $500 Carmen Caroza Scholarship. Liam won first in the Open Classical Junior and the Open Ethnic Solo Junior. Finally, Quinn and Liam shared first in their duet piece.
Their phenomenal success, however, did not come by chance. It took years of intense effort and dedication. Answering for the two of them, Quinn says: “We practice every day for two hours — every day just practice, practice, practice. And we have an accordion lesson on Mondays.” With this practice schedule and everything else these two brothers do, Quinn and Liam are always busy.
To explain the feeling of success, Quinn and Liam recount how they felt just after discovering they had won. Liam says: “I was really, really happy because of how my work paid off.” Quinn adds, “I just felt great inside, like all my hard work paid off. My heart just felt all puffy.”
The stories of these two TPA national accordion champions and their “heart-puffying” words demonstrate once again that practice truly does make perfect.