• Wolfie meets the kiddies: At the Sydney Opera House, there is an ongoing “Digital Season” that is serving up delightful videos from its archived performances for free. Among the many currently on view is a witty and engaging “encounter” with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as portrayed by the renowned Australian pianist Simon Tedeschi, that is geared for families with children. A slightly scatterbrained Constanze, wife of Wolfie dressed in full 18th-century regalia and wig, scampers on stage to introduce the 42-minute session, which features Mozart’s variations on “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” and some of his major compositions, played on the piano with some accompaniment from a small string ensemble. Find it at https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/digital/season/kids-and-families/meeting-mozart.html.
• ‘Imagine’ that: We’ve had Band Aid, Farm Aid, Live Aid, and “We Are the World.” Now comes SongAid, the musical fundraiser for the coronavirus era. Founded by former Facebook content exec Fred Beteille, SongAid each Friday will release a batch of new tunes on a variety of platforms, including Instagram, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, YouTube, Pandora, Deezer and more. Listeners can play and share the songs, and all streaming proceeds will go to the WhyHunger’s Rapid Response Fund, which is aiding those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. SongAid Vol. 001 drops this week, and features Bay Area icon Carlos Santana and his wife Cindy Blackman Santana’s collaborative reimagining of John Lennon’s “Imagine.” Also streaming are Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble’s new take on “Take the ‘A’ Train,” as well as songs by Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello and Run-DMC founder Darryl McDaniels. Future contributions will come from Wilco, Galactic, Jesse Colin Young and Steve Miller, and Bay Area bluegrass greats Mike Marshall and Darol Anger, and many others. You’ll find the first playlist on May 29 at songaid.com.
• Italy by armchair: Join Frances Mayes, author of “Under the Tuscan Sun,” and New York Times travel writer Ondine Cohane for a virtual brunchtime discussion of their new book, “Always Italy,” at 9 a.m. May 30, courtesy of Rakestraw Books’ Live at Home! series. The $45 registration cost nets you a copy of this gorgeous, photograph-studded guide to one of the world’s most beautiful countries, and part of the proceeds will benefit the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano. Go to www.rakestrawbooks.com and click on Live at Home! to get the Eventbrite link for tickets; you’ll get an emailed access code to the CrowdCast session 48 hours before the event.
• The PlayGround is open: San Francisco-based PlayGround is one of the country’s most-admired incubators of new stage works. Fortunately, its 25th anniversary new plays festival, instead of being scuttled by the coronavirus pandemic, has been moved online. Running through June 14, the PlayGround Zoom Fest, held in collaboration with the Screen Actors Guild — American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, presents a variety of semi-staged brand new plays as well as presentations and favorite clips from previous PlayGround festivals. Premiering this weekend is Garret Jon Groenveld’s #MeToo-themed take on the ancient Myth of Cassandra, “Disbelief.” Most events cost $10-$15 (proceeds offer some much-needed revenue to actors and other theater artists). Find streaming content and more information at playground-sf.org/zoomfest.
• ‘I and You,’ and us: A few years ago, young thespians Ivette Deltoro and Davied Morales got their first stage starring roles in City Lights Theater’s acclaimed production of Bay Area playwright Lauren Gunderson’s “I and You,” playing two very different high school students forming an unlikely bond over an assignment on Walt Whitman poetry. On May 29, the two actors will be back with the San Jose theater company in a special streaming event in which they’ll perform their favorite scene from the play and discuss Gunderson’s work. It’s part of City Lights’ weekly Friday night free streaming show “The Next Stage.” Tune in at 8 p.m. on May 29 at cltc.org.