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, for a lot of us in Canada, we are experiencing a bit of a heatwave. I know it is our patriotic duty to complain about the weather BUT as we will have snow and unspeakably cold temperatures again before we know it, let’s for now, just say, wow, isn’t this heat lovely. Not so hard, right?!
So, while we bask in the sunshine, let’s pretend we are in Toronto’s Music Garden enjoying the beautiful sounds of the Toronto Summer Music Festival. Led by the incredibly talented Jonathan Crow, this year they are staging their first ever online festival. Over the course of two weeks, we’ll be treated to gorgeous performances from James Ehnes (opening night), the Dover Quartet, Ema Niklovska and of course Jonathan himself. It starts on July 16 and you can see the full schedule here. Pour yourself a lovely cup of Pimms and enjoy!
From Toronto, let’s take a trip to Saskatchewan (because, now we suddenly can!) to the Saskatchewan Festival of Words, which runs from July 13 to 19. Because of its new online format this year, we can all take advantage of everything this long-running festival has to offer. You get to hear Saskatchewan Poet Laureate Bruce Rice and a live-streamed concert by Andino Suns, Regina’s South American folk-rock band.
As we’re in Saskatchewan, it really is just a hop, skip and jump to the Midwest of the U.S. (truly, it is!). Let’s go virtually to Minneapolis, which has certainly been in the news of late. Under the leadership of Mary Cerutic, The Walker Arts Center, the world renowned contemporary art museum in Minneapolis, has not shied away from acknowledging what is happening in the city. The Museum has cut ties with the Minneapolis Police Department until there is proof of reform, which is a small but symbolic act and published a thoughtful meditation on George Floyd by Minneapolis poet Keno Evol
They have also made available archive material by Black Artists who performed at Walker, including Living Collections Catalogue — Creative Black Music at the Walker: Selections from the Archives. Each performance is special and provides enormous pleasure for the listener.
Now, we’ll move from the Walker, which boosts Claes Oldenburg’s giant cherry sculpture to the big apple (aka NYC) to enjoy The Public’s Free Shakespeare on the Radio. This year you don’t have to stand in the heat for hours in the hopes of getting one of these coveted tickets, but instead just tune into WNYC (think of it as NYC’s CBC but SO much better — sorry CBC fans!).
This year’s performance is RICHARD II and it features a predominantly Black, Indigenous, and People of Color ensemble, led by André Holland and narrated by Lupita Nyong. It will be broadcast in a serialized radio broadcast over four nights from July 13 to July 16 at 8 pm ET.
Let’s continue our Shakespeare theme because well, it’s summertime and frankly it just feels right to do so! Now, we can come back to our own national treasure, the Stratford Festival for their enchanting performance of Romeo and Juliet. Join them Saturday, July 11 for a special roundtable with the cast. Aw, such a lovely and romantic way to end the week!
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.