Our Recommendations
Indulge your appetite for arts and culture.
With so many exciting arts and culture events happening you can feel overwhelmed. The Music on Main Team is here to help! We’ve carefully chosen a list of wonderful digital and live events to discover and experience. Whether you’re looking for a theatrical diversion or a blockbuster art show, some new dance or a classical concerto, our recommendations is a list of must-see events whenever you’re looking for a hit of culture. Make sure to check back often, as we are always scouting fun events that we think you’ll love!
Our Recommendations are must-see events, some from our Vancouver home base and a few from across the globe that we think you’ll enjoy. We’re your trusted source that you’ll want to come back to every time you’re looking for something new and exciting to discover. If you’re looking for only Music on Main events check here.
Kaija Saariaho – Notes on Light
Turning Point Ensemble is pleased to honour the originality and poetry of the music of Kaija Saariaho with a concert that will present a focused and moving portrait of music of her past twenty years. Kaija Saariaho, who passed away at the age of 70 in June 2023 said, “The task of today’s artist is to nurture with spiritually rich art. To provide new spiritual dimensions. To express with greater richness, which does not always mean more complexity but with greater delicacy.” To quote her obituary written by Keith Potter in The Guardian, “Her focus dwelt on the conjuring of shimmering, slowly evolving sound worlds whose translucent and dreamy tendencies are frequently likened to visual images: light on water, the night sky, whether starry or black, and the colour spectrum itself.”
The concert will include Notes on Light, featuring solo cellist Isidora Nojkovic and an ensemble of 19 musicians, and several more intimate vocal works sung by Robyn Driedger-Klassen with small ensembles.
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Sophia’s Forest
In a time of global conflict, Sophia’s Forest offers a moving reminder of the individual lives impacted by war and displacement. Join us for this important and timely Canadian premiere.
Sophia’s Forest tells the story of Sophia, a young girl who flees civil war and builds a new life. While it’s not any one person’s biography, it reflects the experiences of many who have endured war, loss, and displacement. At its heart, this opera is a reminder of our shared humanity. In these times of global conflict, Sophia’s Forest connects us to the individual stories behind the headlines, exploring empathy, resilience, and the enduring power of hope.
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Hard Rubber Orchestra
7:30pm – Saturday, May 31, 2025
Hard Rubber Orchestra, Canada’s 18-piece jazz powerhouse, will reprise the music of the famed Mahavishnu Orchestra. In the early 70’s, this five-piece unit, lead by guitarist John McLaughlin, blew minds and drew a cult following with their ground-breaking fusion of jazz, Indian ragas and high volume rock.
Hard Rubber will perform original arrangements by John Korsrud, Fred Stride, Bill Runge and others, with guests; drummer Randall Stoll, and Chris Gestrin on keyboards, along with the 18-piece orchestra. HRO last presented this popular tribute more than a decade ago, and is excited to once again give audiences a chance to see the Mahavishnu Orchestra re-visited and re-imagined by Vancouver’s one and only Hard Rubber Orchestra. Special guests: The Fits (Veda Hille and Patsy Klein).
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Vancouver International Jazz Festival
160 events, 50+ free shows at the 40th edition of #VanJazzFest June 20-July 1, 2025
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