Andrew Crust conducts Elf in Concert at the VSO, December 20 and 21

Audiences can watch the beloved Christmas film on the big screen while musicians perform John Debney’s original score live

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra presents Elf in Concert at the Orpheum on December 20 and 21 at 7 pm

SOME OF THE most memorable moments in the 2003 blockbuster comedy Elf, widely hailed as one of the best Christmas films of all time, revolve around music.

Take, for example, when Jovie (Zooey Deschanel) saves the day by leading a crowd of carollers through an impromptu rendition of “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town”, generating enough Christmas spirit to power Santa’s sleigh. Or when lovably naive Buddy the Elf (Will Ferrell) hears Jovie singing “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” in a department store’s employee showers and starts harmonizing along. (Hilarious? Yes. A little creepy? Also yes).

What better way to experience the film’s laughs during the holidays than by watching it on the big screen while the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra performs a live rendition of John Debney’s beloved original score? Elf in Concert will be at the Orpheum on December 20 and 21. Tickets are selling fast for both evenings of the show, which is part of the Movie Nights with the VSO series.

The concert will be conducted by Andrew Crust, who served as associate conductor of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra from 2019 to 2022 and is now music director of both the Lima Symphony Orchestra in Ohio and Vermont Symphony Orchestra.

Throughout all of December, the VSO is hosting the Symphony of Giving in partnership with Covenant House Vancouver. A display in the lobby will be set up for guests to donate various personal-care items to youth in need during the holidays.

Featured

Emily Lyth

Stir editorial assistant Emily Lyth is a Vancouver-based writer and editor who graduated from Langara College’s Journalism program. Her decade of dance training and passion for all things food-related are the foundation of her love for telling arts, culture, and community stories.

Articles

Western Front presents Karen Ng's improvised concert Backwards Blue, March 26

Toronto-based artist is known for her prowess as a saxophonist and creative music collaborations

Brahms X Radiohead finds common ground between classical music and alternative rock

Composer and conductor Steve Hackman has no fear of crossing stylistic boundaries

Cascade Peaks ChamberFest announces a world premiere for its inaugural vocal ensemble program

At a July 20 concert, faculty lead Mark Vuorinen directs Where Wildness Lives by renowned B.C. composer Imant Raminsh

Bansuri player Lara Wong and flamenco guitarist Melón Jiménez cultivate otherworldly sounds at the Kay Meek, March 19 to 21

Tracks off the pair’s Juno-nominated 2024 album Confluencias trace the music traditions of Spain and India

Vancouver Opera stages Giacomo Puccini’s beloved opera La Bohème, April 25 to May 3

Music director emeritus Jonathan Darlington returns to conduct this Parisian love story tested by the bittersweet passage of time

Legendary Inuk artist Susan Aglukark and throat-singing duo PIQSIQ perform at the Chan Centre, April 12

Award-winning artists reclaim Arctic sounds with soaring vocals

SUBA Trio creates inspiring musical unity from Africa’s sublime sources

Although from different points on the map, pianist Omar Sosa, kora player Seckou Keita, and percussionist Gustavo Ovalles realized through improvisation that they were attuned to one another

Ramneek Singh performs her spring-inspired concert Basant Ke Rang at the Shadbolt Centre, March 29

Internationally acclaimed Hindustani classical vocalist is joined by harmonium player Mohan Bhide and tabla player Sunny Matharu

All nine Beethoven symphonies, as Vancouver Symphony Orchestra unveils 2026-27 season

Steven Isserlis, James Ehnes, and Augustin Hadelich among the soloists hitting the concert stage

Vancouver International Children’s Festival gets set to welcome everything from high-energy Danish dance to artful Korean doodling

Eighty shows in all, as Italy’s Teatro Telaio sets up an ARCHIPELAGO installation, plus pow-wow, hip-hop, and massive puppets

A Dorothy Chang premiere unites the seasoned and emerging players of Vetta’s Mentorship Orchestra, March 6 to 9

At a concert called A Look to the Future, the piece shares a program with works by John Rutter, Jocelyn Morlock, and Tchaikovsky

With PopCappella, Chor Leoni reinterprets everything from the B-52s to the Proclaimers, March 6 and 7

Harmonizing through the decades, Vancouver choir is set to premiere six new arrangements

Jenn Grant draws on her family history for sometimes-heartbreaking songs

The Nova Scotian singer-songwriter is touring with a new multimedia show, Cradled by the Waves

Dominique Fils-Aimé’s music becomes a way of life rooted in emotional journey

Acclaimed Montreal singer and songwriter intertwines healing experiences in nature and musical history to reach toward the light

Bilingual Montreal tunesmith Aleksi Campagne carries on a family tradition

At Festival du Bois, the singer-violinist will blend Québécois fiddle tunes with an indie-folk sensibility

Music on Main fetes 20 seasons of programming with Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians, March 23

Percussionist Vern Griffiths leads a rare performance of the rhythmic composition

Nicholas Wright conducts candlelit show Enchanted Brilliance: A British Serenade, February 26

The VSO School of Music’s advanced young string ensemble Sinfonietta plays pieces by Vaughan Williams, Purcell, and more

Ruckus Early Music finds lightness of dance in inspiring story of Ignatius Sancho

New York City ensemble’s program for Early Music Vancouver pairs pieces by Handel with high-spirited English country dances by the British African composer and abolitionist

Tord Gustavsen Trio performs sublime Nordic jazz at Christ Church Cathedral, March 17

Acclaimed ensemble’s impressionistic sound is inspired by blues, gospel, Scandinavian folk, and church music

Vancouver Cantata Singers artistic director Paula Kremer to move to role of conductor emerita

The long-time vocalist, pianist, and conductor is set to pass on the baton at the end of the 2026–27 season

Composer Kati Agócs reveals sacred music as source of resistance in Hosanna of the Clouds

Vancouver Bach Choir performs Canadian premiere of work that draws on both ancient tradition and the 20th-century avant garde to explore the creative act