Plum Viewing

Welcome to the latest edition of Plum Viewing, my weekly roundup of arts and culture to view online.

Here are this week’s picks. Happy viewing!

Well, I am thrilled to say that we have an east coast recommendation in this week’s list, so let’s start there.

Prince Edward Island’s Confederation Centre has launched a beautiful new digital initiative called, Postcards from the Island, a 12-part series featuring local artists performing in unique locations across this gorgeous island. Like so much of Canada’s east coast, P.E.I. is steeped in natural beautiful and truly incredible artistic talent. New episodes are available every Thursday at 9 pm ET, with each are then archived on the Confederation Centre’s Youtube channel . Thursday featured a wonderful performance by the very talented singer songwriter Ashley Condon.

And, P.E.I can now proudly add one more talented artist to its list as Soulpepper’s own Mike Ross has just moved back (Mike was born in Charlottetown). This definitely gives us one more reason to head out east, when of course, we can!

Let’s island hop — from Prince Edward Island to the island of Manhattan for Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, a multifaceted celebration of music, dance, opera, theatre, contemporary works, and more, which this year has been reimaged as a radio event.

With boroughs across Manhattan serving as the background, this is a seven-day program featuring musical broadcasts, live events, digital content, and more focused on the power of community and how inequality has shaped classical music, past and present. It is sure to be a series of powerful and thought provoking performances. Register here.

Ok, let’s cross the border back into Canada (because, in this newsletter at least, we still can!). For one night only, August 10, the Canadian Opera Company is presenting a free digital stream of its 2018 opera Hadrian, which was composed by Montreal’s own Rufus Wainwright and Cape Breton’s own David MacIvor. Performed in Toronto in 2018 with a star-studded cast (including Ben Hepper) and under the direction of renowned Canadian director Peter Hinton, Hadrian recounts the epic love story of Roman Emperor Hadrian and his young lover, Antinous. This will be a popular one, so to secure your ‘link’ (as it were!), you can register here

So, last Saturday evening, we poured ourselves our cocktail of choice (French 75) and live streamed Fred Hersch’s concert at the Village Vanguard Except for the cheeky nightcap we would have no doubt enjoyed at Anfora afterwards, it felt like a somewhat typical Saturday night in NYC. Heavenly.

This week, we might mix it up a bit — both the cocktails and the jazz and treat ourselves to this performance: Tenor saxophonist and serial bandleader Shabaka Hutchings whose live shows in London are legendary. On Saturday at 5 p.m. ET, Hutchings will play a SummerStage Anywhere Session in London. He’ll be joined by the two-drummer team from his popular group Sons of Kemet, Tom Skinner and Eddie Hick; his fellow breakout tenor saxophone star Nubya Garcia; the guitarist Dave Okumu; and the bassists Tom Herbert and Neil Charles. You can find the concert on SummerStage’s YouTube channel, and its Twitch, Facebook and Instagram pages.

And, in case you’re wondering, my cocktail of choice this week might be a cosmopolitan (don’t judge me!) and for Mr. Fairs, a vesper (he is British after all).

Ok. Now this is something we have needed our whole lives and really, the only question is how did we not see this before? What is it you ask: A rock musical about the Brontë sisters. I mean, really, I could just stop here but I won’t. Wasted was first commissioned by London’s Southwark Stayhouse in 2018 and is now available as part of its streaming programme, which is available free until its doors reopen. Described as “fantastically witty” by the Guardian this is surely something we all need to see right now.

Enjoy!!

And, an ask: While we’re enjoying these wonderful performances, let’s remember that for the arts organizations producing this incredible content, this is their livelihood; not a hobby. If we can, now is our time to continue to support our incredible arts community!

And, if you’d like to receive Plum Viewing weekly, send me a note at maggiefairs@gmail.com and I will add you to my mailing list.