Spring Arts: A month-by-month guide to all that's blooming on Vancouver stages and screens
Cherry blossoms, circus moms, and ukelele orchestras: a roundup of don’t-miss music, theatre, dance, and more
MARCH
Vancouver International Dance Festival
To March 25 at various venues
Mad butoh, a nearly lost Italian folk dance, a study of human structure, and a Noh-inspired raising a glass of sake to himself in celebration of what will be his last birthday: these are just some of the highlights of the 23rd annual event that draws artists from around the globe. Need to Know: This is Vancouver audiences’ only chance to experience two globally opposite perspectives in Samsara by UK/Indian dancer Aakash Odedra and Chinese dancer Hu Shenyuan, drawing on their diverse disciplines of ballet, Chinese folk, kathak, and contemporary dance in an exploration of the wheel of life.
Sense and Sensibility
To April 2 at 2023 the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage
Vancouver director Rachel Peake brings acclaimed New York City playwright Kate Hamill’s refreshing stage adaptation of the Jane Austen classic to the Arts Club stage, casting Amanda Sum and Nyiri Nyiri Karakas as sisters on opposite sides of the emotional spectrum. Need to Know: No stuffy period piece, this version zips along with razor-sharp humour, imaginative staging, and cheeky Gossips.
JigJam.
JigJam
March 9 at 8 pm at BlueShore at CapU
Blue grass meets American folk in the vibrant music of JigJam. Three of the four Colorado-based act’s multi-instrumentalists hail from Ireland, the other from Scotland. Need to know: Foot stomping, high energy, and badass are the band’s descriptors.
My Little Tomato
March 9 to 19 at the Cultch Historic Theatre
Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre and Zee Zee Theatre, in association with rice & beans theatre, present Ken Tae’s play. The new surreal rom com tells the story of Chinese-Canadian kindergarten teacher who inherits a farm and who is not thinking romance until a Japanese-Irish-Canadian produce wholesaler and bar star comes along and falls for him. The only catch is that the former has fallen for a tomato. Need to Know: Love has no gender, age, race, sex, culture, or, as far as the prolific writer-director-actor is concerned, species.
Prophecy Fog
March 9 to 18 at Gateway Theatre
Gateway Theatre presents the latest work from acclaimed multidisciplinary artist Jani Lauzon, who shares her revelations from a pilgrimage to Giant Rock. The sacred Indigenous site in California’s Mojave Desert was defamed by tourists in the 20th century. Lauzon, who is of Métis, French, and Finnish descent, incorporates projected images of nature by environmental designer Melissa Joakim into the intimate solo. Need to Know: Prophecy Fog has a theatre-in-the-round format, allowing Lauzon to speak directly to audience members.
Vancouver Jewish Film Festival
March 9 to 26 (at Fifth Avenue Cinemas March 9 to 16; the Norman and Annette Rothstein Theatre March 17 to 19; and online March 19 to 26)
The 18-day event features 27 world and Canadian premieres, including critically acclaimed dramas, comedies, and documentaries that highlight the diversity of Jewish culture and speak to the need for global unity, human connection, and environmental sustainability. It launches with Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Song, A Journey. Need to Know: The fest has an exclusive sneak peek of The Cure for Hate (work in progress), which documents anti-hate activist—and former neo-Nazi and Holocaust denier—Tony McAleer’s journey of atonement to Auschwitz.
Humanity
March 10 at 7:30 pm at Pacific Spirit United Church and on March 11 at 7 pm at Riverside Christian Reformed Church (Agassiz)
The 40-voice Elektra Women’s Choir presents this concert that features photography by Elizabeth Larsen, performances by students Elektra’s Mira Youth Mentorship program, and works by artists ranging from Claudio Monteverde to Canadian Music Centre associate composer of Laura Hawley. Need to Know: Human connection and the beauty of nature are the evening’s themes.
JUBILEE
March 11 at 7:30 pm at Chan Centre for the Performing Arts
Afrocentric choral classics and contemporary works are on the Vancouver Chamber Choir concert program, including music by Canadian composer Nathaniel Dett as well as arrangements by guest conductor Rollo Dilworth. The choir will also be joined on stage by students from its Focus choir. Need to Know: Dilworth is an internationally recognized choral conductor, educator, and composer with more than 150 original compositions and arrangements to his name.
Angela Hewitt. Photo by Stephen Shepherd/The Guardian
Angela Hewitt: Bach, Brahms and Scarlatti
March 12 at 3 pm at Chan Centre for the Performing Arts
Widely considered the leading Bach interpreter of our time, the classical pianist will perform Bach’s English Suite No. 6 in D minor as well as a selection of Scarlatti sonatas and Brahms’s Sonata in F minor Op.5. Need to Know: The Early Music Vancouver concert fittingly falls shortly after International Women’s Day: a Companion of the Order of Canada, the country’s highest honour—Hewitt has numerous other awards to her name, including the distinction of being the first woman to receive the prestigious City of Leipzig Bach Medal in 2020.
Elias String Quartet
March 14 at 7:30 pm at Vancouver Playhouse
Friends of Chamber Music presents a return performance sure to enrapture. On the program: Joseph Haydn’s String Quartet in F-sharp Minor, Opus 50, No. 4; Stravinsky’s Three Pieces for String Quartet K019; and Beethoven’s String Quartet in F Major, Opus 59, No.1. Need to Know: The Philadelphia Enquirer described the ensemble this way: “Few quartets at any stage of their evolution have this much personality.” (On March 26, FCM presents Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center at the same venue, at 3 pm, the touring group having a roster of multi-generational and international expert chamber musicians).
Ballet BC. Photo by Marcus Eriksson
HORIZON/S
March 16 to 18 at 8 pm the Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Two world premieres—one from Vancouver’s Shay Kuebler, the other by Czech talent Jiří Pokorný—and the return Israeli choroegarpher’s dazzling WHICH/ONE make up Ballet B.C.’s spring fling. Need to Know: With a background in martial and dramatic arts, Kuebler draws on everything from hip hop to jazz to contemporary dance in his choreography, all with a sense of play and lightness.
In My Body
March 17 and 18 at 8 pm at Vancouver Playhouse
Age and vulnerability are rarely, if ever, explored in the artistry of b-boys/b-boy/b-girls. BBoyizm founder and choreographer-dancer Crazy Smooth (Yvon Soglo) has gathered an intergenerational group of dancers and creative team members for In My Body, a fiercely athletic examination of effects of aging on dancers, presented in Vancouver by DanceHouse. Need to Know: In My Body has been awarded four Dora Mavor Moore Awards for outstanding production, outstanding original choreography, outstanding performance by an ensemble, and outstanding achievement in design.
Cardinal Points: Untrue Stories Live
March 17 and 18 at Woodland Park
Rumble Theatre brings its New Creation Series to the great outdoors. Three new works will be showcased in a cabaret format, breaking in between each performance. Need to Know: During the breaks, audiences will have the opportunity to mingle and enjoy food, festivities, games, and more.
A Dinosaur Tale
March 18 and 19 at 2 and 7 pm at Massey Theatre
This live-action fantasy adventure for the whole family echoes the tradition of classics like E.T., The Avengers, and Jurassic World. In this story, complete with larger-than-life prehistoric puppets, two eighth graders have to figure out how to drive dinos back home after the creatures make their way into the real world through a mysterious time-warping wormhole. Need to Know: Calgary-based veteran theatre and entertainment critic Louis B. Hobson wrote the script for the show, which is touring all across Canada
Derek Gripper
March 19 at 8 pm at Mel Lehan Hall at St James Community Hall
BlueShore at CapU and the Rogue Folk Club team up to present this extraordinary guitarist from Cape Town, who specializes the multi-layered kora music of Mali. Need to Know: The solo show is a conversation between African traditions and Western composition—think Toumani Diabate, J.S. Bach, and Arvo Pärt.
Paradise or the Impermanance of Ice Cream
March 23 to April 2 at The Cultch
New Zealand’s Indian Ink takes inspiration from Ernest Becker’s Pulitzer prize-winning Denial of Death and the vibrancy of Mumbai in this wild and dreamy solo created by Jacob Rajan and Justin Lewis and performed by Rajan. Need to Know: Be prepared to meet seven characters that Rajan brings to life as he weaves in puppetry, the afterlife, and a bit of Bollywood disco to the real-life mystery of India’s vanishing vultures.
Elage Diouf.
Festival du Bois
March 24 to 25 at Mackin Park, Maillardville/Coquitlam
Leading French artists from B.C., Manitoba, Washington State, and Quebec gather for this can’t-miss celebration of francophone music and culture in the French-Canadian community of the Maillardville area in Coquitlam. Among the highlights are Les Grands Hurleurs, the “great howlers”, with their fresh take on traditional Québécois music; Senegalese soul-rocker Élage Diouf; Brazilian dance music by Forró do Cana; music and foot rhythms of Podorythmie; BC’s own Métis Jiggers; La Famille Léger, with French-Canadian and Acadian tunes; and, celebrating 50 years, Maillardville-based francophone choir Les Échos du Pacifique. It all kicks off with a contradance in the Grand Chapiteau (Big Tent), a fest tradition, featuring Vancouver’s Sybaritic String Band and caller Sherry Nevins. Need to Know: The Métis Village Experience, copresented with the North Fraser Métis Association, invites people to explore the Métis history, art, culture, traditions and language and meet musicians, dancers, storytellers, craftspeople, artisans.
Sedna, Empress of the Sea.
R2R Film Festival
March 28 to April 6 at the Roundhouse Community Centre and Vancity Theatre
Back in person for 2023, the festival of films for children, youth, and their families is celebrating its 25th anniversary. To mark the milestone, this year’s event honours the Edith Lando Peace Prize, which has celebrated films that use cinema to advance the goals of peace and justice since 2008. All of the short films programs will be available online across B.C. Need to Know: The opening film is the Canadian premiere of Sedna, Empress of the Sea, which was inspired by stories that writer-director-producer Jerry Thevenet’s grandmother told him as a young boy. Born in NunatuKavut, Thevenet is the founder of Jerryco Animation, North America’s first Indigenous-owned and -operated animation studio. All of Jerryco’s productions feature Indigenous characters, settings, and languages.
Vicky Chow plays Philip Glass
March 28 at 7:30 pm at Christ Church Cathedral
Music on Main presents the Hong Kong-Canadian artist whom Time Out New York described as a “monster pianist” in a hypnotic performance of legendary composer Philip Glass’s Piano Etudes, Book 1. Originally from Vancouver, Chow is based in Brooklyn, New York and has been on faculty at the Bang on a Can Summer Institute and Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. A graduate of The Juilliard School and The Manhattan School of Music, Chow is a Yamaha artist. Need to Know: Glass himself had this to say of Chow’s recording of his Etudes: “a highly dynamic and expressive performance”; “There’s a certain energy that is uniquely hers.”
Lorna.
Vancouver International Burlesque Festival
March 29 to April 1 at various venues and online
The celebration of sexuality, diversity, and gender expression features artists from across North America, including headliner Zyra Lee Vanity from Montreal and Vancouver’s own burlesque legend, Lorna. Workshops, TIT Talks, and a virtual showcase complement The Glamorama Gala and The Showpony Soiree. Need to Know: Lorna, who studied with Martha Graham and Mary Wigman in the 1960s, danced across Canada that decade and during the one that followed; in 2022, she made a return to the stage at age 79.
Pretty Woman: The Musical
March 29 to April 2 at Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Broadway Across Canada brings the show based on one of Hollywood’s most beloved romantic stories of all time to Vancouver, led by two-time Tony Award-winning director and choreographer Jerry Mitchell (Hairspray, Kinky Boots, Legally Blonde). Need to Know: The production features an original score by Grammy- winning Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance (“Summer of ’69”, “Heaven”).
Dancers of Damelahamid.
Dancers of Damelahamid
March 30 at 12 pm at Scotiabank Dance Centre
This noon-hour performance is part of The Dance Centre’s Discover Dance! Series. An Indigenous dance company with a rich history of masked dance, Dancers of Damelahamid will share Spirit and Tradition, a vibrant blend of dances, singing, drumming, and projected imagery, all creating an immersion in Indigenous Northwest Coast lands, waters, and culture. Need to Know: Themes of reciprocity, sustainability, balance, interconnectedness, and community ring through.
Jussen Brothers Return
March 31 and April 1 at 8 pm at the Orpheum Theatre
For the first time since VSO music director Otto Tausk’s inaugural concert in September 2018, fraternal piano duo Lucas and Arthur Jussen reunite with the maestro on the Orpheum stage. The Deutsche Grammophon-exclusive artists and Edison Klassiek award-winners will perform Mendelssohn’s Concerto for 2 Pianos in E Major. Also on the program: the VSO’s performances of Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 3; and Linda Catlin Smith’s Nuages, a VSO commission and musical depiction of “a quiet lushness, as in the weaving of light and shade in an overgrown garden”. Need to know: Lucas (age 28) and Arthur (25) Jussen were kids when they were invited to perform for the Dutch Queen Beatrix; they’ve gone on to play with symphony orchestras all over the globe and were the 2021-22 artists in residence at Konzerthaus Berlin.
APRIL
Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival
April 1 to 23 at various locations
The community fest centres around Sakura Days Japan Fair (April 15 and 16), celebrating Japanese food and arts, from taiko drumming to tea ceremonies, at VanDusen Gardens. Need to Know: Grab your camera for the opening ceremonies April 1 in David Lam Park, where 100 Akebono varieties come into bloom.
Springtime
April 2, 2:30 pm at the Orpheum
Vancouver Chamber Choir welcomes spring by collaborating with piano star Jane Coop on three new works: Ay li lu (somewhere in infinity) by Swedish composer Jacob Mühlrad, commissioned by the Vancouver Chamber Choir; Blake’s “Seasons” by Colin Eatock: and a work by Iman Habibi commissioned by Coop and the choir. Need to Know: Lili Boulanger, Ramona Luengen, Alex Freeman, and Joseph Haydn round out the program.
This Is a Love Story
April 1, 7:30 pm at Studio 16, in French
Théâtre la Seizième gears a new work to teens, telling the story of Mark and Anna, and a mysterious narrator who dictates all their moves and thoughts—until they rebel and try to write their own love story. Need to Know: Upending traditional narrative devices, the play hits somewhere between philosophical tale and romantic comedy.
Barcelona’s Tarta Relena.
Tarta Relena
April 9 at 7 pm at the Telus Studio Theatre in the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts.
The Catalan duo of Marta Torrella and soprano Helena Ros blend the modern and the ancient into spellbinding polyphony. The Chan and Vancouver New Music copresents. Need to Know: The pair draw on everything from Gregorian chants and Spanish flamenco to Corsican folk songs and the stories of Afghanistan’s female Paixu tribe.
Stupid F*cking Bird
April 12 to 23 at The Cultch Historic Theatre
Playwright Aaron Posner reimagines Anton Chekhob’s The Seagull as an irreverent tragicomedy complete with live music. Need to Know: The Search Party, the company behind this production, has consistently been staging some of the strongest theatre in the city since its founding just a few years ago; think Bunny, The Father, and Amaryllis.
Graveyards and Gardens
Graveyards and Gardens
April 12 to 15 at 7:30 pm at the Fei & Milton Wong Experimental Theatre at SFU Woodward’s
Finally, after its acclaimed livestream performance in 2021, the chance to see composer Caroline Shaw and dance artist Vanessa Goodman’s collaboration live—a dazzling, immersive sonic and movement experience that unfolds with microphones, tape decks, plants, turntables, and 400 feet of orange cable. Music on Main and SFU Woodward’s Cultural Programs copresent. Need to Know: Shaw has a Pulitzer Prize, Goodman has a Chrystal Dance Prize, and together they’ve taken this show to packed audiences in Germany, the Pacific Northwest, and beyond.
We Love Arabs. Photo by Eli Katz
Hillel Kogan: We Love Arabs
April 13 to 15 at 8 pm at the Dance Centre
In this Dance Centre and Théâtre la Seizième copresentation, the Israeli choreographer stages a provocative and politically biting duet-cum-power struggle between a Jewish dance artist (Kogan) and an Arab (Mourad Bouayad). Need to Know: The piece trails awards and critical praise from around then world; The Jerusalem Post called it “a true masterpiece by all measures”.
Hey Viola!
April 13 to 22 at the Gateway Theatre
Krystle Dos Santos’s powerful musical tribute to Viola Desmond hits the Mainstage. Need to Know: When Stir reviewed the 2020 premiere, we wrote that the show “humanizes a civil-rights story with fierce singing”.
Fatoumata Diawara
April 14 at 8 pm at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts
The Grammy-nominated Malian singer-songwriter weaves together the musical sounds of Africa with funk, rock, and more. Need to Know: Even more compelling than her powerful music are Diawara’s passionate causes, all expressed through her lyrics: African children, women’s rights, and the protection of ancient Timbuktu manuscripts.
White Noise. Photo by Moonrider Productions
White Noise
April 15 to May 7 at the Firehall Arts Centre
Late young theatre artist Taran Kootenhayoo’s biting comedy about comedy about a white family and an Indigenous family who gather for dinner during Truth and Reconciliation week makes its return. Need to Know: Rave reviews met this Savage Society work when it debuted last spring, so grab the second chance to see it.
Jill Barber
April 15 at 8 pm at the York Theatre
BlueShore at CapU and The Cultch present the Vancouver singer-songwriter on the heels of her deeply personal new Homemaker album. Need to Know: Barber’s newest tunes return to her folk roots, as she ruminates on marriage, motherhood, and identity.
Danish String Quartet
April 16, 3 pm at the Orpheum Theatre
Vancouver Recital Society brings back Denmark’s blond fab four, as they celebrate their 20th anniversary. Renowned for their intensity, speed, and precision—yet, somehow, casual cool—the quartet presents its third installment of the exciting Doppelgänger project, in which four contemporary composers penning pieces inspired by four Schubert masterpieces. Need to Know: The Danes will pair Schubert’s “Rosamunde” Quartet with a work by Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdóttir, one of the hottest new composers on the planet.
Singin’ in the Rain
April 16, 11 am, VIFF Centre
As part of its Pantheon series of the greatest films ever made, Gene Kelly and friends pull off some of the greatest dance numbers ever caught on celluloid. Need to Know: The Pantheon screenings feature free refreshments, and filmmaker and Emily Carr University of Art + Design associate professor Harry Killas is onhand for an introduction
Pianist Tomasz Ritter
Tomasz Ritter
April 16, 3 pm at the Vancouver Playhouse
The Lublin-born piano star makes his Vancouver debut playing Early Music Vancouver’s gorgeous 1819 Conrad Graf piano in a 25th-anniversary concert for the Vancouver Chopin Society. Need to Know: Ritter, as proficient on piano as baroque keyboards, won the 1st Internationa Chopin Competition on Period Instruments in Warsaw.
George Hinchliffe’s Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain.
George Hinchliffe’s Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain
April 19, 7:30 pm, at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre
The eight-piece orchestra gamely—and yes, virtuosically—adapts the ukelele to almost any material, be it jazz, blues, or classical, or be it Adele, American minimalist Terry Riley, or Paganini. And it has one heck of a lot of fun along the way. Need to Know: By Her Majesty’s own request, the uke-pluckers performed for Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle for her 90th birthday party.
Said the Whale With the VSO
April 19, 8 pm at the Orpheum
Vancouver’s indie rock scene meets the full symphonic forces of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Need to Know: Doubtful you’re going to get any other chance to here the pop-rocking hit “I Love You” set to a string and horn section.
The Legend of Georgia McBride
April 20 to May 21 at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage
In this Matthew Lopez musical, a young, down-on-his-luck Elvis impersonator gets the chance to don stilettos at a drag show. Need to Know: The comedy has raked in Obie, Lortel, and Outer Critics Circle awards.
La Rêveuse ensemble. Photo by Jean Dubrana
The Birds Concert
April 21 at Christ Church Cathedral
Birdsong inspires a program of 17th-, 18th-, and 20th-century music that draws on on science, nature and culture. Composers include Saint-Saëns, Purcell, and Ravel. Need to Know: La Rêveuse ensemble plays regularly in France’s most esteemed concert halls, with rave reviews for its Baroque recordings.
Dory Hayley – Récitations by Georges Aperghis
April 22, 8 pm at the ANNEX
Videographer-animator Matthew Talbot-Kelly collaborates with Canadian experimental-music soprano Dory Hayley’s interpretation of the Greek composer’s thrilling and challenging work, in a Vancouver New Music presentation. Need to Know: Récitations demands a virtuoso combination of phonemes and theatrical sound gestures, with high speed and pummelling repetitions.
Paul Pigat’s Guitar Cabaret Featuring Kevin Breit
April 23, 8 pm, at the BlueShore at CapU
Vancouver’s guitar master Paul Pigat (Neko Case, Jakob Dylan) and Toronto-based guitar virtuoso Kevin Breit (Norah Jones, Harry Manx), who melded their mega talent to form the Shut-Ins, are back together onstage. Need to Know: Expect the jazz-meets-rockabilly-hillbilly sounds of the Shut-Ins’ 3 Ring Circus, plus works from each of their solo careers.
Raven
April 26 to 30 at the York Theatre
As part of the Femme Festival, the Cultch presents—wait for it—Berlin troupe still hungry’s acrobatic work about motherhood, or more specifically, the German concept of “Rabenmutter” (raven mother—a selfish, neglectful mother). Need to Know: Circus moms prove that parenting might be the most fearless high-flying act there is.
Crazy For You
April 27 to May 14 at the Massey Theatre
Royal City Musical Theatre makes its first return in three years with the song-and-dance musical full to its rafters with Gershwin tunes, played by an 18-piece orchestra. Need to Know: Love It or List It host Todd Talbot stars with his wife Rabecca Talbot in the leading roles.
Wartime Masterpieces
April 28, 2 pm, at West Point Grey United Church; April 29, 7:30 pm, West Vancouver United Church, April 30, 2 pm, Pyatt Hall
Vetta Chamber Music presents violinist Joan Blackman with pianist Jane Hayes and VSO principal cellist Henry Shapard in an exploration of three composers deeply affected by world wars: Britten, Shostakovich, and Ravel. Need to Know: The program’s Trio No. 2 in E minor, Opus 67 by Shostakovich was inspired by the horrors of World War II, and drove people to tears when it debuted in 1944.
The Flying Dutchman
April 29 to May 7 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Richard Wagner’s epic work about a sailor and his daughter’s encounter with a ghost ship gets a rare staging at the Vancouver Opera. Need to Know: Vancouver’s own Les Dala is conducts the rousing choral music, with VO favourite Greg Dahl taking on the Dutchman, doomed to forever roam the sea.
Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg in Body Parts. Photo by Wendy D
MAY
Body Parts
May 3 to 6 at The Cultch Historic Theatre
Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg works through her own body issues via her signature mix of stand-up comedy, kinetic gesture, and dance. Need to Know: Loaded phrases like “bikini body”, “dancer’s body”, and “Did you get your body back?” are just a few leaping-off points.
Piña
May 4 to 6 at SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts
FakeKnot dance sensation Ralph Escamillan presents the world premiere of a four-dancer work inspired by his identity as a first-generation Canadian-born Filipinx, interweaving folk dance and diasporic history. SFU Woodward’s Cultural Programs and The Dance Centre copresent. Need to Know: Piña, a traditional, delicate Philippine fibre made from pineapple leaves, plays a prominent role, and K!mmortal provides an original score.
DOXA Documentary Film Festival
May 4 to 14 at various venues
Stay tuned for programming announcements for Vancouver’s outstanding array of documentary films. Need to Know: The roster of films is set to be released in early April.
South Africa’s The Sacrifice. Photo by Tristram Kenton
The Sacrifice
May 5 and 6 at the Vancouver Playhouse
South Africa’s Dada Masilo takes her intensive training in European ballet back to Africa, exploring the pared-back aesthetic and connection with nature of Tswana dance—and then channelling it through Pina Bausch’s interpretation of Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. The result? A thoroughly reimagined Rite. DanceHouse presents the 10-dancer work. Need to Know: Masilo has made her name by reimagining big classical ballets like Giselle and Swan Lake through an African lens.
The Kanneh-Masons play strings and keys with the VRS.
Kanneh-Mason Family Celebration
May 5 at 8 pm at the Orpheum
In a Vancouver Recital Society coup, one of the most celebrated, and most expansive, classical-music families gathers all on one stage, with siblings Isata on piano, Braimah on violin, Sheku on cello, and Konya on piano and violin, and Mariatu on cello and piano. The program spans Beethoven, Rachmaninov, Brahms, and much more. Need to Know: In 2015, the six eldest Kanneh-Masons first created buzz performing on Britain’s Got Talent together; Sheku became a household name when, at 24, he was asked to play cello at Harry and Meghan’s wedding in 2018.
Schubertiade With the Leonids and Chor Leoni
May 5, 7:30 pm, St. Andrew’s Wesley United Church
Under the baton of Erick Lichte, the men’s choir joins its recent offshoot ensemble—the nine-voiced Leonids—and Early Music Vancouver’s Alexander Weimann on on Graf fortepiano to celebrate the exquisite beauty of Franz Schubert. Need to Know: The program has a bonus, featuring Vancouver composer Jocelyn Morlock’s stunning version of Schubert’s well-known lied “An Die Musik”.
Tapestry International Celebration Concert
May 6 at Christ Church Cathedral
Elektra Women’s Choir welcomes the Women’s Chorus of Dallas and Seattle’s Mirinesse Women’s Choir in a final Celebration Concert for their triennial international choral symposium. Need to Know: Find out what 120 female voices sound like when they come together in harmony.
WAVE/S
May 11 to 13 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Two of the world’s standout choreographers debut new works for Ballet BC: Israel’s Roy Assaf, who has choreographed for the likes of Batsheva Dance Company and Nederlands Dans Theater. and Sweden’s Johan Inger. Need to Know: Just over a decade ago, Inger’s surreal and comedic Walking Mad quickly became one of the biggest audience favourites in the company’s repertoire.
Reflections
May 12, 7:30 pm at Pacific Spirit United Church
Vancouver Chamber Choir closes its season with a tribute to the North, with works by composers from both Canada and Nordic countries. Composer-in-residence Matthew Whittall debuts a new commission. Need to Know: The concert’s theme could not be more fitting, as the choir heads out for a tour of Northern Europe soon after the show.
Kyohei Sorita
May 21, 3 pm, Vancouver Playhouse
The second-prize winner of the 18th International Chopin Competition in Warsaw—the highest prize there for a Japanese-born artist since 1970—shows his considerable talent in a Vancouver Chopin Society concert. Need to Know: A conductor as well as pianist, Sorita founded the Japan National Orchestra in 2019.
The company of the 2021-22 national tour of CATS. Photo by Matthew Murphy/Murphymade
May 23 to 28 at Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Winner of seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, CATS features an original score by Andrew Lloyd Webber (The Phantom of the Opera, School of Rock, Sunset Boulevard) and original scenic and costume design by John Napier (Les Misérables). Then there’s as all-new lighting design and sound design. Need to Know: The record-breaking show has toured to more than 30 countries and has been perofmred in 15 languages.
rEvolver Festival
May 24 to June 4 in and around the Cultch
Organized by Upintheair Theatre, one of the city’s most adventurous performing-arts fests returns with an eye to incubating new works. Offerings from here and elsewhere cross theatre, dance, installation, and more. Watch for programming details, yet to be announced. Need to Know: The best way to take in the array of is with one of the array of innovative shows is through one of the fest’s passes.
Horn master Stefan Dohr.
Happy Valley
May 25 to June 4 at the Firehall Arts Centre
Sydney Risk Award-winning playwright Derek Chan takes another sharp look at the historic, political, and cultural context surrounding Hong Kong’s current democratic struggles in this rice & beans theatre production. Need to Know: Chan won the Vancouver Fringe New Play Prize for Starstuff: per aspera ad astra, and his play Chicken Girl won the Jessie Awards’ Sydney Risk Award for Outstanding Original Play by an Emerging Playwright.
Swan Lake
May 26 and 27 at the Orpheum
Under German maestro Jun Märkl, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra brings to life Tchaikovsky’s achingly romantic ballet score. The program also features one of the world’s great horn players—Stefan Dohr—for Strauss’s virtuosic Till Eulenspiegel and Japanese composer Toshio Hosokawa’s contemplative horn concerto Moment of Blossoming. Need to Know: Hosokawa wrote the piece specifically for virtuoso Dohr, who’s principal horn at the esteemed Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
Symphony of Psalms and Tubular Bells
May 27, 7:30 pm at the Vancouver Playhouse
The choir joins the Bergmann Piano Duo and Fringe Percussion to bring to life Strainsky’s choral Symphony of Psalms and Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells—the dizzying tune best known from horror classic The Exorcist. Leslie Dala conducts. Need to Know: Oldfield’s “totally tubular” piece requires the chorus to vocalize wordlessly.
Gryphon Trio
May 28, 3 pm, at Kay Meek Centre’s Grosvenor Theatre
The acclaimed piano trio travels between European classical and contemporary sounds, with violinist Annalee Patipatanakoon, cellist Roman Borys, and pianist Jamie Parker. Need to Know: A sign of how much the trio has pushed the boundaries of chamber music is that it’s commissioned more than 85 new works over its 25-plus years.
Vancouver International Children’s Festival
May 30 to June 4 on Granville Island and May 30 to June 23 online
The 46th annual Kids’ Fest brings theatre, music, dance, circus, puppetry, and storytelling performers to the island. Need to Know: Make sure to catch A Simple Space and ZOOOM from Australia and Sakasaka all the way from Madagascar.
Bard on the Beach, As You Like It. Photo by Tim Matheson |
JUNE
Bard on the Beach
June 8 to September 30
The Beatles are back, with the Bard’s 2018 blockbuster As You Like It on the BMO Mainstage from June 8 to September 30; it will play in repertory with Julius Caesar (June 14 to September 24). On the Howard Family Stage it’s Henry V from June 28 to August 13, followed by Goblin:MacBeth running August 19 to September 17. Need to Know: The Chicago Sun-Tribune called it “a total blast”: As You Like It features two dozen Beatles classics, including “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “Here Comes the Sun”.
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
June 8 to August 6 at Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage
Based on the book by Douglas McGrath about the artist’s inspiring rise to stardom, this rousing show from the Arts Club Theatre Company, in its Canadian premiere, features classics by King and her contemporaries like “The Locomotion”, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling”, and “(You Make Me Feel Like a) Natural Woman”. Need to Know: Kaylee Harwood plays the lead, the Vancouver native having performed everywhere from Stratford and Shaw Festivals to Broadway to Radio City Music Hall.
PRISMA Festival.
PRISMA Festival
June 12 to 24 in Powell River
PRISMA stands for Pacific Region International Summer Music Association, and ever since 2013, the organization has hosted hundreds of students from 32 countries. The classical-music fest features orchestra and chamber music performances, masterclasses, limelight concerts, and more. This year's works are by Dvorak, Brahms, Mahler, and Stravinsky, among others, led by artistic director Arthur Arnold, former music director and conductor of the Moscow Symphony Orchestra. Guest artists are members of some of the world’s leading orchestras, such as Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, and Montreal Symphony. Need to Know: The family-friendly PRISMA on the Beach celebration is one of the most spectacular concert experiences in B.C.
Million Dollar Quartet, Arts Club Theatre Company. Photo by David Cooper
Million Dollar Quartet
June 22 to August 6 at Granville Island Stage
Inspired by true events, this jukebox musical being presented by the Arts Club Theatre Company is based on the book by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux and inspired by Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins. Need to Know: “Folsom Prison Blues”, “Great Balls of Fire”, and “Blue Suede Shoes” are among the tracks from the famed jam session that brought the rockers together for the first and only time.
A Year of Blessings
June 22 onward online
Gateway theatre presents the fifth and final instalment of the 2023 free audio play series about Chinese cultural traditions by Five Blessings Collective, a team of Asian-Canadian artists. Need to Know: The Dragon Boat Festival is this episode’s focus.
Vancouver International Jazz Festival
June 23 to July 2 at various venues
Coastal Jazz & Blues Society presents the 38th edition of the beloved fest, with appearances including Grammy-winning vocalist Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, and Shahzad Ismaily performing as their new project Love in Exile as well as American jazz quartet The Bad Plus. Need to Know: A free Downtown Jazz concert series happens outside the Vancouver Art Gallery and šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énḵ Square, culminating on Canada Day weekend at Granville Island venues.
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