Heavenly Music on Bloor Street

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Michael playing Zither-Harp

Yesterday, on the fly running various errands, some heavenly music on Bloor Street near St. George caught my ear and stopped me in my tracks. Rather than be held captive to my tight schedule and relentless, pressing deadlines, I stopped to listen to the wonderful sounds of this Zither-Harp and, once again, succumb to its magical charm.

It’s not the first time I’ve taken a few minutes to chat with Michael, although any of those first recordings are buried deep somewhere on one of my urban flute hard-drives. A fresh take, I thought to myself, and I’m sure you will understand immediately why I seized the opportunity to chill out on Bloor.

Michael is as soft-spoken as the music that issues forth from his most ancient of instruments, and perhaps in part due to his charming British accent, I find his manner and words rife with wisdom. Certainly he is one of the most affable and thoughtful musicians I have ever met – and to hear the stories he has to tell!

I didn’t pull the audio-journalist trick and request soundfiles of our conversation – that can seem so invasive, if not downright rude – but he and I spoke for a while about busking experiences in England. One scene he described was playing at dusk on an old street on the outskirts of Bath. In the mist and fading light, the sounds of his Zither-playing completed the image. A lone figure stopped by, mesmerized, to listen and by one of his CD’s…turns out it was none other than Van Morrison!

Michael and I talked about trying some flute and zither duos at some point. With early December rains and winter closing in, I guess busking together might have to be placed on hold until the spring – will keep you posted!

In the meantime, if you want to get your hands on a unique, heaven-sent Christmas gift, his CD’s are not to be missed! Michael can be contacted directly at 416-503-9384.