Back in prison again.

He had never been this close to an Esmonde-White concert grand piano and he just had to touch it, play it, regardless of the punishment that would surely come later. The concert was over, we were all milling about, and there was the piano bench, still warm. It had been a long time between pianos for the prisoner and it would be a longer time before another. Musical instruments are considered potential weapons in the hands of prison inmates and therefore not allowed at Millhaven Maximum Security Prison. And the tattooed young man looked rather like the last person you’d want at your thirty thousand dollar concert grand. As he headed toward the front of the room his guard moved to head him off, but he made it to the bench, and from his hands the first notes of Beethoven's “Fur Elise” rippled the air. We all paused our post-concert chatter in mid sentence, even the guard paused; the CBC Radio sound person, alert to the moment, had already hit the ‘record’ button. Time stopped for the next little while as the prisoners love of music flowed through his fingers, through the Esmonde-White, and into our hearts. We stood in thrall to his precise phrasing and delicate touch. Even out of practice he was pretty good. Listening, I was wondering why is he here? We aren’t allowed to ask such questions for fear we might hear the answer, but it hovered in my mind as his fingers drifted over the keys. This was not my first concert at Millhaven. Last Spring I was privileged to experience the thrill of walking through barbed wire security chambers, hearing and feeling clanging metal gates closing behind me, and the hard glare in the inmates eyes (the audience) as they entered the room in small groups escorted by guards. Locked up with these dudes I felt rather low on the food chain. That was last Spring, this time was different. I recognized many of them and they were now just guys to me, here to experience the music. We chatted a bit before the concert, which was put on by Dmitri Kanovich, a tough looking but tender-hearted guy who’s made it his mission to bring some light into the lives of those most forgotten and ignored by the rest of us: inmates of old folks homes and of prisons. His “Looking at the Stars” federal charity programs (https://lookingatthestars.org/) are presented throughout the Ontario prison system, some going on as far as Quebec, BC and a few weeks ago in Lithuania! Anyway, none other than Michael Enright was there with his crew to record the event for CBC Radio One’s “The Sunday Edition”. The concert was as brilliant as you’d expect from three of the world’s best musicians, so I won’t try to describe the music, you can hear it yourself on Nov10 at 11am, or on the CBC Radio web site (https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-57-sunday-edition). The internationally famous Lukas Geniusas was pianist joined by cellist, Joseph Johnson, and violinist Johnathon Crow, both first chair in the TSO. I haven’t heard the CBC program as I write this but I know it will be great. During the performance I watched the person who will put it together with Michael Enright swooning into his head phones, eyes closed and a smile on his face. I hope they use a little of Dmitri’s “I don’t love you, but I want to bring you love” intermission speech. And I hope they include some of the prisoners performance with some sense of that moment when his hands touched the best piano ever in his life for such a short time. And I hope that music will be in his life again someday when the gates are finally opened.