Early Music Vancouver Summer Festival celebrates the Power of Music

This year’s edition spans repertoires from the Middle Ages to early opera, bookended by landmark works by Monteverdi and Vivaldi

(Left to right) Rachel Podger; Lazaro Silva and Emma Galvin in *Bach Dances* (Jess Mac photo).

Early Music Vancouver presents Summer Festival 2026: The Power of Music at various venues from July 31 to August 7

EARLY MUSIC VANCOUVER HAS announced the full lineup for the 2026 edition of its annual Summer Festival, bookended by two beloved landmark works. The fest kicks off on July 31 with a fully staged version of Monteverdi’s tragic opera L’Orfeo. The production will feature a cast of 12 singers, with Marc Mauillon and Bahareh Poureslami in the lead roles of Orfeo and Euridice.

The festival concludes on August 7 with violinist Rachel Podger leading the Pacific Baroque Orchestra in Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons.

In between, the Summer Festival’s curators—EMV artistic and executive director Suzie LeBlanc and Pacific Baroque Orchestra artistic director Alexander Weimann—promise that audiences will come to fully appreciate why this year’s theme is “The Power of Music”.

“Together,” said LeBlanc in yesterday’s announcement, “we are thrilled to create a festival that celebrates music’s ability to move, transform, and connect us.”

Among the festival’s other highlights:

Bach Dances, August 1 at The Dance Centre: Dancers Will Jessup, Alexis Fletcher, Emma Galvin, and Lazaro Silva are featured in this collaboration between Israeli choreographer Idan Cohen and Canadian cellist Elinor Frey.
The Compass Rose, August 1 at West Vancouver United Church: Weimann plays J.S. Bach’s solo organ works, including his Toccata and Fugue, Concerto,s and Trio Sonata No. 5.
Songline: Musical Hike, August 6 at Malcolm Knapp Research Forest: EMV 2026 artist-in-residence Mauillon leads the audience on a 90-minute nature walk while he sings selections from Songline, his album for solo voice.
Florilegium, August 5 at Christ Church Cathedral: Ensemble COMTESSA offers a poetic meditation on the life cycle of flowers through a selection of English medieval songs.

Find the full Summer Festival lineup, and information on purchasing tickets, at the Early Music Vancouver website.

Featured

John Lucas

John Lucas has covered music and the arts for longer than he cares to think about. He can also be found playing his guitar in dodgy rehearsal spaces and low-rent venues in and around Vancouver.

Articles

At the Vancouver Folk Music Festival, the eclectic Valerie June promises a little bit of everything

The American singer-songwriter plays rock ’n’ roll, blues, folk, gospel, and country, along with well-chosen cover versions of songs by Nick Cave, Gillian Welch, and Duran Duran

Toronto-based Nastasia Y carries on a family tradition of song and rebellion, at Mission Folk Music Festival

The Ukrainian-born performer distills influences from Slavic folk to jazz and R&B into her music, as heard on her solo debut, Kyiv Soul

Canadian singer-songwriter Aysanabee is proud to be a role model for Indigenous youth

The Vancouver Folk Music Festival performer also tells us about his kick-ass band and the pressure he has put on himself as an award-winning recording artist

Concrete Vehicles’ noise-rockers specialize in music as unique as their band’s name

Intellectual-property disputes behind it, the project formerly known as Computer plays the Burrard Stage at this year’s Khatsahlano Street Party

Modern Biology is a conduit for the music of the forest, at Indian Summer Festival on July 13

For Tarun Nayar’s performance at VanDusen Botanical Garden, the festival invites attendees to settle in picnic-style and get into a meditative headspace

Fast-rising Punjabi singer Rashmeet Kaur is keen on eclectic sonic exploration

The Indian Summer Festival performer, who has collaborated with Major Lazer and contributed to Bollywood soundtracks, has forged some creative links to Canada’s West Coast

The sounds of Star Wars and Beethoven hit the waterfront at Symphony at Sunset, July 11

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra moves its wildly popular, free outdoor concert to David Lam Park this year

Stir Cheat Sheet: Beach concerts to artisan market, 5 happenings to hit at Harrison Festival of the Arts

Hawksley Workman, plus mesmerizing cultural melds from El Balcón, Benin International Musical, and more

Vancouver’s Uncle Strut is doing its part to make guitar solos, and moustaches, cool again

Headlining the Khatsahlano Street Party’s Burrard Stage, the fast-rising band is unafraid to spice up its surf-inspired indie rock with country, funk, and Latin elements

Celebrate Canada Day through events at these July 1 events around Metro Vancouver

From Cloverdale to West Vancouver and all points in between, festivities span live music, drumming, kids’ activities, and no shortage of national pride

Early Music Vancouver concludes its 2026 Summer Festival with Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, August 7

Violinist and guest director Rachel Podger performs alongside the Pacific Baroque Orchestra

Step through the looking glass and rock out to local music at the Khatsahlano Street Party, July 11

Indie-rockers Uncle Strut, post-punk stars Concrete Vehicles, and soul powerhouse Leo D.E Johnson are among the talents hitting the Burrard Stage

Vancouver International Jazz Festival artist-in-residence Wendy Eisenberg got in touch with her 13-year-old self to craft self-titled album

The singer and guitarist makes music that veers from lushly orchestrated American to wildly experimental free-jazz improv

The Offering of Curtis Andrews puts a worldly spin on jazz at Performance Works, July 4

The Newfoundland-born, Vancouver-based percussionist and scholar brings influences from Africa and South Asia to his musical explorations

Fin’Amor takes the hurdy-gurdy into uncharted territory at the Queer Arts Festival

Composer Jeffrey Ryan, librettist James Fagan Tait, and tenor Bud Roach explore contemporary art song with the medieval era’s version of the synthesizer

Trumpet virtuoso Cuong Vu sees music as a path to reconnection in an alienated world

Acclaimed musician and educator will draw on an innovative career in collaboration when he joins local outfits Tom Wherrett Trio and Malleus Trio at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival

Singer Darynn Dean teams up with Daniel Hersog for June 25 North Shore Jazz performance

The local trumpeter leads his eponymous Jazz Orchestra in a home-field appearance featuring the rising-star Los Angeles vocalist

Early Music Vancouver's 2026 Summer Festival opens with Orfeo, July 31 and August 2

Bold production of Monteverdi’s influential opera features director Guillaume Bernardi, conductor Alexander Weimann, and singer Marc Mauillon

For Vancouver’s Missy D, music is a way to communicate, no matter what the language

The rapper and singer performs at Alliance Française Vancouver’s annual Fête de la Musique, alongside Kaya Ko, Alpha Yaya Diallo, Phantom Jungle, and many other eclectic acts