Articles

Sparks fly as harpist Rita Costanzi joins Vetta Chamber Music’s return to Schafer’s chamber-music masterpiece, Theseus

At Stirrings, strings piece explores rich contemporary territory, alongside classical Borodin and Debussy

MUSICJanet SmithNovember 7, 2025Vetta Chamber Music, Rita Costanzi

Illyes Ferfera’s Tawazûn brings North African melody to jazz quartet, November 13 at Alliance Française

Rising French-Algerian saxophonist opens new routes through the traditional musical map

MUSIC, WHAT'S STIRRINGJanet SmithNovember 6, 2025Alliance Française Vancouver, jazz

UBC Opera stages Mozart's The Magic Flute at the Old Auditorium, November 27 to 30

Fantasy-filled production featuring members of the Vancouver Opera Orchestra offers a timeless story that resonates with audiences of all ages

MUSICStir VancouverNovember 6, 2025Partner Content, UBC Opera, UBC

Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival closes with Rhythms of Thunder: An Evening of Taiko, November 8

Thrilling evening features performances by Uzume Taiko, GO Taiko and Taiko 55, and Onibana Taiko

Chor Leoni sings of healing and hope in The Songs Will Remain

The Vancouver choir reflects on war and peace in its annual Remembrance Day concerts, featuring works by Kate Bush and former composer in residence Don Macdonald

MUSICJanet SmithNovember 4, 2025Chor Leoni, Remembrance Day, Kate Bush

Shadbolt Centre hosts the Nightcrawlers with jazz vocalist Ale Avery Nunez, November 28

Quintet highlights the lively sound of the Hammond B3 organ, while Toronto-based singer draws on soul and swing

MUSICStir VancouverNovember 4, 2025Partner Content, Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, Shadbolt Centre, Cory Weeds

Vancouver Bach Family of Choirs hosts a festive weekend of winter concerts, December 6 and 7

Offerings include Bach’s jubilant Christmas Oratorio and annual favourite Christmas With the Bach Choir, featuring nearly 500 singers

At TRANSFORM Festival, cellist Cris Derksen brings Indigenous classical musicians to centre stage

Ahead of Where the Rivers Meet, the Juno-nominated artist reflects on a multifaceted career as performer, composer, and advocate

MUSIC, FESTSJanet SmithOctober 31, 2025Transform Festival, Homepage feature

The VSO hosts pianist Zlata Chochieva for Mozart & Shostakovich 11, November 28 and 30

Conductor Joshua Weilerstein leads the concert, with a program featuring works by Shostakovich, Mozart, and Canadian composer Samy Moussa

MUSICStir VancouverOctober 30, 2025Partner Content, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra

Gun barrels become instruments of life in Modulus Festival’s Resonant Transmutations

Responding to childhood memories of war, Kurdish-American artist Pedram Baldari forges dulcimers and woodwinds from decommissioned firearms

Drawing on globe-spanning influences, Gord Grdina’s Ru’ya creates kaleidoscope of melody and rhythm

Christ Church Cathedral performance by the renowned Vancouver musician’s latest project will blend intercultural virtuosity with poetry from a troubled Middle East

MUSICJanet SmithOctober 28, 2025CapU, CapU Global Roots, Homepage feature

Music review: Heavenly singing in Vancouver Opera’s Rigoletto lights up a dark Victorian world

Easing off some of the more disturbing themes and melodrama, the production feels somehow lighter, stripped-down, and relatably human

MUSICJanet SmithOctober 27, 2025Vancouver Opera, Homepage feature, Vancouver Civic Theatres

Canadian pianist Louis Lortie plays Ravel’s Piano Concertos with the VSO, November 14 and 15

Program also features George Benjamin’s Concerto for Orchestra, dedicated to the memory of British composer Oliver Knussen

MUSICStir VancouverOctober 25, 2025Partner Content, VSO, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra

Big Top’s dark musical tones a natural fit for the unsettling silent-movie vision of The Unknown

One of the weirdest Hollywood films ever made helped bring local bandleader Scott McLeod back to shadowy instrumental soundscapes

SCREEN, MUSICJanet SmithOctober 24, 2025Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, Tod Browning

Vancouver Chamber Choir performs the rarely heard Eton Choirbook, November 21

Kari Turunen directs 10 singers in a concert of English sacred music composed during the late 15th century

MUSICStir VancouverOctober 24, 2025Partner Content, Vancouver Chamber Choir

New Mimosa String Quintet goes big on Boccherini at Early Music Vancouver

Acclaimed cellist Christina Mahler explains how she was captured by musical and technical innovations of the unjustly overlooked 18th-century composer

MUSICJanet SmithOctober 23, 2025Early Music Vancouver, Mimosa String Quintet