When Burl Crow runs away from home to escape his brutal father, he heads for the place he knows best — the wilderness. Craving solitude, he is stunned by the sight of a grand piano dangling from a helicopter, and even more startled to find himself drawn to the sounds that eventually come from it. Tracing the source of the music, Burl finds Nathaniel Orlando Gow, the Maestro, standing on the deck of a strange, pyramid-like cabin. The reclusive, eccentric Maestro (based on the brilliant Canadian pianist Glenn Gould) has chosen to escape, too, and only reluctantly offers the wet, starving Burl shelter. Slowly but surely, the two form a bond, and Burl's eyes are opened to a world he never dreamed of. Will his rapport with the Maestro give Burl the inner courage needed to face the difficult choices that suddenly confront him when his father reappears?The Maestro is a poignant coming-of-age drama that testifies to the redemptive powers of friendship.