World-renowned Italian whistler performing concert series in Montreal

A world-renowned whistler is in Montreal for a series of concerts this month.

Tommaso Novi, who is also a pianist, composer and singer-songwriter, is on tour in Quebec until Oct. 24.

“When I was four, I started to whistle, listening to my grandpa and my father,” said Novi, who is from Pisa, Italy.

Novi admits his constant whistling as a child may have been a little annoying to those around him. But the musical tunes allowed him to overcome nervous tics he suffered from at a young age. He also credit whistling for shaping the artist he is now.

“When I started to study in a conservatory, a different composition, music composition, I tried to mix my whistling skills to the techniques of the music,” he said. “I liked it so much because I discovered that I could whistle the script, the score.”

Novi has been called the first person to teach whistling in Europe at an Italian university.

“I remember a night with my friends, they asked me, Tommaso, why don’t you teach us to whistle? It was very funny. But the day after I started to write some notes, these four notes after became my teaching system.”

Montrealers Mélissa Doucet, a bassist, and drummer Christina Beaudry-Cardenas travelled to Italy to learn from Novi – a collaboration with the Université de Montréal.

“It was wonderful,” said Doucet. “It felt like a big family and we had so much fun working with Tommaso.”

“It was a little nerve-wracking at first because we hadn’t met before and we kind of just arrived in Italy and hoped for the best,” added Beaudry-Cardenas. “And it was the best.”

Now the pair, who learned a little whistling from Novi while in Italy, will be joining him for his concerts in Montreal.

Novi brought the show to Quebec after two tours in Italy. It includes music that inspired him – from Mozart to contemporary Italian songs. His performances include traditional instruments and, of course, whistling.