Virtual Concert Series
Access recordings of live-stream performances featuring Radical Connections artists. Find free links below for each concert.
Maren Kathleen Elliott and Zach Robertson - Heartbreak and Hope
Zach Robertson (guitar, voice) and Maren Kathleen Elliott (viola/fiddle, voice) first met in 2013 while performing at a recital for MacEwan University's jazz and contemporary music program in Edmonton. Over the years, they have enjoyed jamming, busking, and playing gigs together around town.
As a duo, Zach and Maren love to pull together elements of their different music backgrounds, with Zach bringing in old-time country, bluegrass & blues while Maren draws inspiration from her training in classical viola, fiddling, and her fondness for folk music. They both have a passion for music that tells stories and explores matters of the heart.
Recorded on: 29-Nov-2023
Namitha Rathinappillai - Something Worth a Lineage
Radical Connections Artist, Namitha Rathinappallia (she/they) is a Tamil-published spoken word poet, organizer, and workshop facilitator. They write about belonging, resilience, and joy found and fostered as acts of simultaneous self-care and resistance. She identifies as a queer, and disabled.
They have been creating, performing, commissioning, and competing as a poet, locally and nationally, since 2018. Currently based in Toronto, she lives with her partner and their two cats, Halloumi and Paneer.
Recorded on: 26-Oct-2023
Kate Weekes - Applachian, Delta-Blues and Folk Originals
Kate Weekes performs a mix of contemporary folk originals, traditional music with influences of Appalachian old-time, Delta Blues and pieces by her peers in the Canadian folk music scene. Kate will perform on acoustic guitar and banjo.
Recorded on: 29-Sept-2023
Aymara Sanchez - Avant Garde with a Touch of Fun
Gatineau-based artist Aymara Alvarado Sanchez is a community-focused artist who loves bringing the opportunity for creativity to equity-deserving folks. In addition to bringing art to people in care through Radical Connections, she works for the LAB in Hull, a place of expression and artistic creation for young people aged 16 to 30 at risk of experiencing problems related to drug addiction, homelessness and social exclusion.
In this performance, Live Stream at Aymara offers electronic music, saxophone and opera, a mix of contemporary avant-garde with a touch of fun!
Recorded on: 30-June-2023
Chas Guay - Connections
In this performance, Chas Guay plays selected folk and sixties classics mixed with some originals. He is the recipient of the East Coast Music Award for Musical Achievement. and has worked as a recording artist and in musical theatre for twenty-five years.
Chas states that, “Music has served me well throughout my life and I enjoy sharing the value of harmony, melody, and rhythm. My experience in musical theatre has revealed how animation and a good smile go hand-in-hand with enriching any experience. I have seen music to be a great connector.”
Recorded on: 26-May-2023
Kim Kilpatrick - Flying in the Dark
Kim Kilpatrick has always been a storyteller and loves to work with people. She is proud to be a totally blind artist. On stage, Kim has created and performed three one-woman shows in festivals and theatres all across Canada including: “Raising Stanley / Life with Tulia” (2018) and “Dangerous Touch” (2022). In this performance, she presents the first part of “Flying in the Dark” (2011).
This is a show about a child, blind since birth, figuring out that she isn’t like everyone else, and that she is. It’s filled with senses: hearing, touch, smell, texture, humour, and insight. How does Kim learn to read? Walk to the store? Ride a bike? Meet Kim, hear her stories and you’ll realize that Kim is, in most respects, just like everyone else.
Recorded on: 28-Apr-2023
Katherine Grier - Beating the Odds!
Katherine tells stories from her family and adds a few short traditional tales to the mix. From the light-hearted to the serious, they're all about beating the odds in one way or another. You’ll hear sober and silly tales of strange cats, unsettling encounters, and surprising ways of facing potential disaster.
The session wraps up with Noble Thornhill, a wonderful (and true) story from her dad, about unlikely redemption in the 1940s lumber woods. It takes place over a long harsh winter and heralds spring — very appropriate to this moment.
Recorded on: 31-Mar-2023
Jennifer Vallance - Poetry, Story, and Song
Join actor Jennifer Vallance for a virtual performance of poetry, story, and song, on the subject of the acceptance of loss, inspiration and joy. Jennifer weaves together heartfelt singing and meaningful poems. She will also recite selections from the stories of brilliant writers which comfort and inspire.
Jennifer was born and educated in the south of England and travelled the world as a photographer. She emigrated to Canada in 1989 and became a singer, dancer, composer and actor in plays, and musical theatre, and was the co-founder and co-songwriter in the rock band Rules of Seven. She owns her film company Girl On A Wire Productions.
Recorded on: 27-Feb-2023
Elenor Crowder - Circle Round the Sun
Radical Connections’ Inaugural Virtual Concert with Eleanor Crowder.
Eleanor Crowder has been writing poetry all her life. Her poems and songs distill the seasons of the sun and of everyday life. Her work forms a journal of travels, immigration, marriage, of domestic detail. Eleanor brings you a wild sweep of poems which formed her imagination and yours! Between the hoof beats and the grand words of the greats, she shares some of her work. Bear & Co., Calalou.
In her work life, Eleanor creates theatre, as a performer, a director and a producer. She is a member of several artist collectives, including Bear & Co., Calalou, and The AWAY Collective.
Recorded on: 28-Jan-2023