PORT TOWNSEND — David Michael will perform at the Candlelight Concerts series at 7 p.m. Thursday.
The series at Trinity United Methodist Church, 609 Taylor St., is also simulcast on KPTZ FM 91.9 and streams at www.trinityumcpt.org.
The concert is free, although a donation of $15 per person is requested.
Half of the donations benefit Olympic Community Action Programs, which supports local individuals and families with essential groceries, rental assistance, utility support and other critical necessities.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m and masks are encouraged for in-person attendees.
The program features original works by Michael on a 38-string Celtic harp. Most of the works were composed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Port Townsend-based performer is a world fusion artist and has taught free-form improvisation. Michael has performed and recorded with master ethnic musicians as well as members of major symphonies.
Michael has recorded 26 albums to date, some as as a soloist, some in a collaboration with artists such as Nancy Rumbel, Benjy Wertheimer, Steve Gorn, Jami Sieber, Michael Mandrell, Gwen Franz, Ann Lindquist and Randy Mead.
He studied cello and piano as a child, guitar as a teenager, and later studied Flamenco guitar and the Greek bouzouki before he took up viola-da-gamba, psalteries and zithers. He settled upon the Celtic harp around 1983.
His experiences touring in Europe and performing in castles, cultural centers and, as a busker, in the walking streets of Scandinavia are documented in his book “Busker – Tales of a Renegade Harpist.”