Is the glass armonica half-empty or half-full? For two centuries, music history wavered on the question. Born of the Classical Music Period, the instrument rose, fell, virtually disappeared, then recently found rebirth with its beautiful tone.

Like many before him, Chester Englander was an accomplished classical musician barely making rent. Trained as a percussionist at the Cleveland Institute of Music, he cobbled together a livelihood the way many fine classical musicians do — giving lessons, doing random commercial work, playing occasional soundtrack sessions, subbing often for symphony players who went on vacation or had a baby or got the flu.

Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia is almost not an isle at all.