Articles — Stir

Ghanaian music scholar Kofi Gbolonyo leads upbeat Celebrate Africa! event at BlueShore at CapU, January 30

Long-time UBC and CapU faculty member puts on a show featuring dozens of local musicians, plus vocalists Dawn Pemberton and Khari McClelland

Collaboration opens new sonic horizons for jazz guitarist Jocelyn Gould

The Winnipeg-based artist looks forward to onstage exchanges with diverse musical peers on International Guitar Night

MUSICJanet SmithJanuary 22, 2026Massey Theatre, International Guitar Night

You're the Top! brings the songs of Cole Porter to the Anvil Theatre, February 14

Event hosted by Michael van den Bos features Hollywood film projections and live music by the Laura Crema Sextet

MUSIC, SCREENStir VancouverJanuary 22, 2026Partner Content, Anvil Theatre

Stir Q&A: Chicago’s Dumb John brings fearless comic energy to Improv Centre showcase The Heat

Troupe members Mike Geraghty and Linda Orr talk early days in punk-rock basements and the power of trust onstage ahead of the five-day international comedy festival

COMEDYJanet SmithJanuary 21, 2026The Improv Centre, Granville Island

Blackout Art Society’s English looks at language and belonging, January 23 to February 1 at the Firehall

Sanaz Toossi’s play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2023 for its look at four students preparing for the TOEFL

THEATRE, WHAT'S STIRRINGJanet SmithJanuary 21, 2026Firehall Arts Centre, FIREHALL

At PuSh, Alan Lake Factori(e)’s mythologically driven Orpheus paints a visceral picture of loss

In the deeply moving production, dancers embody the ancient tale of death and longing by tapping into their own experiences of tragedy

Vancouver New Music hosts Artifacts I: Zero Input Enclosure Movement, February 14

Sonic architecture of Winnipeg’s AO Roberts explores the interplay of performance, installation, and layered auditory experiences

MUSICStir VancouverJanuary 21, 2026Partner Content, VANCOUVER NEW MUSIC, Vancouver New Music

Eastside Arts Society secures funding to purchase its headquarters at 716 East Hastings

Vancouver City Council greenlights $2,665,000 for acquiring the property, with funds from the False Creek Flats Amenity Share Reserve

Folk-rooted string quartet the Fretless finds a voice in singer-songwriter Madeleine Roger

Collaborating with vocalists taught the acclaimed, formerly all-instrumental group new ways of listening and working

MUSICJanet SmithJanuary 20, 2026Fretless, Kay Meek Arts Centre

UBC Opera performs Leonard Bernstein’s satirical operetta Candide, February 5 to 8

Rarely presented in Vancouver, the production blends musical theatre and opera with a philosophically rooted storyline

MUSICStir VancouverJanuary 20, 2026Partner Content, UBC Opera

Ariel Barnes brings nomadic spirit and intense curiosity to classic and contemporary cello works

The adventurous artist sees his upcoming program with Vetta Chamber Music as a way of expressing music’s power to console and cheer, even in dark times

MUSICJanet SmithJanuary 20, 2026Vetta Chamber Music, Ariel Barnes, cello

Ralph Moore Quartet headlines sixth edition of Jazz at the Bolt, February 13 to 15

Hosted by the Cellar Music Group at the Shadbolt Centre, festival opens with a special concert by the Vancouver Jazz Orchestra with Champian Fulton and Klas Lindquist

At the Advance Theatre Festival, Alexandra Lainfiesta uses magic realism to explore the personal sacrifices of immigration

Latinx theatre artist’s debut script unfolds across three worlds: Toronto, Antigua Guatemala, and a realm in which the immigration system functions like a game show

Vancouver Chamber Choir concludes 46th annual Conductors' Symposium with Neighbo(u)rs, February 13

Five emerging conductors lead a program of pieces by both Canadian and American composers, from Amy Beach to Stuart Beatch

MUSICStir VancouverJanuary 19, 2026Partner Content, Vancouver Chamber Choir

You’re Just a Place That I Know retraces a refugee story through song, at the BMO Theatre Centre from January 21 to February 1

Adrian Glynn McMorran’s moving theatre-concert pays tribute to his Ukraine-born grandparents, complete with a choir and traditional instruments

MUSIC, THEATRE, WHAT'S STIRRINGJanet SmithJanuary 19, 2026Arts Club Theatre Company, Arts Club, Arts Club Theatre

John Irving, Claire Sicherman, and more celebrated authors set to join 41st annual JCC Jewish Book Festival, February 21 to 26

Programming spans the festival’s beloved annual Book Clubs epilogue event and pre-festival events with photographer Dina Goldstein and cookbook author Rachel Simons