Windsor·Video

Do you whistle while you work? This Windsor Symphony guest musician does

Michael Barimo is a world champion of musical whistling, having performed at Carnegie Hall and on Late Night with David Letterman.

Barimo is in Windsor as part of the W.E. got talent competition hosted by the WSO

Michael Barimo is a world champion of musical whistling, having performed at Carnegie Hall and on Late Night with David Letterman. (Tom Addison/CBC)

There's a special guest performer at the Windsor Symphony this weekend — and he doesn't play the flute or cello.

He whistles.

Michael Barimo is a world champion of musical whistling, having performed at Carnegie Hall and on Late Night with David Letterman. 

Robert Franz came across a social video of Barimo whistling a Mozart piece and pitched the idea to the team at WSO. 

Barimo said he whistles the music he loves, which turns out to be mostly opera. 

Do you whistle while you work? This Windsor Symphony guest musician does

5 years ago
Duration 1:04
Michael Barimo is a world champion of musical whistling, having performed at Carnegie Hall and on Late Night with David Letterman.

"A lot of little notes, flourishes," said Barimo, who sticks to whistling classical music.

Franz compared Barimo's performance to that of a singer.

"It's very related," said Franz. "The question is how much air escapes in whistling versus singing."

Barimo is in Windsor as part of the W.E. got talent competition hosted by the WSO. 

Listen to the full interview on Windsor Morning here: