Morning at the Waterworks

Introducing myself to staff at Toronto’s central water filtration plant, I encountered a major renovation of the site. With connected rooms replete with brass railings, massive victorian pumps in one section, arched internal windows and high lofted ceilings, the ambience of this historic utilities building can be heard in the full, rich acoustic.

The voice of the plasterer on his cell-phone in the adjacent room can be heard in the background, and personally I had no problem with this: my enjoyment and experience providing music at receptions, and busking in the early days, probably helps!

Urban Flute Project doesn’t require silence - I like to think that juxtaposition of the sounds of the flute with the natural acoustic and ambient sounds of the location at hand are part-in-parcel with the philosophy of this adventure.

The vibration of my music might be seen as melding with the history of sounds already encoded in the wallpaper, wood, plaster and stone of these historic interiors that I play in - in this case, I guess the sound of my flute is embedded in the fresh plaster, an integral part of a tasteful renovation of one of Toronto’s lesser known, yet extraordinary landmarks.

The work here is scheduled to be completed later in 2007, and I will keep you posted regarding any opening celebrations where the public might be invited to visit the site.