This week’s roundup consists of Baroque opera, language-blending music, free outdoor concerts, and more from some of Canada’s premier music organizations.
BC
Victoria
Victoria Conservatory of Music: Abkhazi Garden
Music in Abkhazi Garden
Victoria Conservatory of Music
Date: Fri, August 14, 2026 @ 1 p.m.
Location: Abkhazi Garden | 1964 Fairfield Road, Victoria, BC V8S 1H4
Price: By donation
Jazz guitar duo, Chris Newman and Isobel Lopatecki, will play from 1 to 3 p.m. while visitors take a serene stroll through the Abkhazi Garden known for its native Garry oaks and stunning vistas.
OperaFest 2026 Dido & Aeneas
Victoria Conservatory of Music
Date: Sat, August 15, 2026 @ 2 and 6 p.m.
Location: Alix Goolden Performance Hall | 900 Johnson St., Victoria, BC V8V 3N4
Price: By donation (suggested $20)
This fully-staged production of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas features chamber orchestra, choir, and emerging artists from the Conservatory to finish off OperaFest 2026.
Vancouver
Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra: Kenneth Hsieh
Vancouver Piano Session Concerto Gala
Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra
Date: Wed, August 12, 2026 @ 7:30 p.m.
Location: Christ Church Cathedral | 690 Burrard St, Vancouver, BC V6C 3L1
Price: Free
Winners of the VPS Concerto Competition will perform their concertos alongside the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Kenneth Hsieh.
Frankie’s Jazz Club: Tamas Balai
Tamas Balai Quartet
Frankie’s Jazz Club
Date: Thurs, August 13, 2026 @ 8 p.m.
Location: Frankie’s Jazz Club | 755 Beatty St, Vancouver, BC V6B 2M4
Price: $26
Tamas Balai recently graduated from Capilano University where he studied jazz performance and composition. He will be performing well-loved tunes alongside the other members of his quartet, Arvind Ramdas, David Caballero and Brad Turner.
musica intima
musica intima
Date: Fri, August 14, 2026
Location: West Vancouver United Church | 2062 Esquimalt Ave, West Vancouver, BC V7V 1S4
Price: $15-45
musica intima blends language and voice to present the West Coast world premiere of internationally-acclaimed Cree composer Andrew Balfour’s Missa Tekakwitha: The Seven Stones of Grandfather’s Prophecies, a seven-movement work sung in Mohawk, French, and Latin. Andrew Balfour will join musica intima on stage, along with Cree-Dene educator and composer Sherryl Sewepagaham.
Alberta
Banff
Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity: Gabriela Laconsay and Ryan Daunt. Photo: Abigaile Edwards
Jazz & Sonic Arts Concert
Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
Date: Thurs, August 13, 2026 @ 7:30 p.m.
Location: Banff Centre | 107 Tunnel Mountain Drive, Banff, AB Canada T1L 1H5
Price: $45
The faculty of Jazz & Sonic Arts will perform an innovative concert filled with improvisation and experimentation. Featured performers include Kris Davis (piano), Ole Morten Vågan (double bass), Simon Barker (drums), Melissa Aldana (saxophone), Sissel Vera Pettersen (voice) and more. The concert is followed by an informal jazz jam at CLVB ‘33.
Calgary
Honens: Sara Hahn-Scinocco
Piano Project YCC: Élisabeth Pion with Sara Hahn-Scinocco & Antoine St-Onge
Honens
Date: Wed, August 12, 2026 @ 4 p.m.
Location: CORE Shopping Centre | 324 8 Ave SW, Calgary, AB T2P 2Z2
Price: Free
Enjoy a free afternoon concert put on by 2025 Honens Gold Laureate Élisabeth Pion, Calgary Philharmonic flute player Sara Hahn-Scinocco, and bassoonist Antoine St‑Onge, now taking place at the CORE Shopping Centre (4th Street glass bridge on Level 2, directly in front of Holt Renfrew).
Saskatchewan
Saskatoon
Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra: Angela Cheng
SSO: Everything is Romantic
Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra
Date: Thurs, August 13, 2026 @ 7 p.m.
Location: SaskTel Theatre | 102 Spadina Crescent East, Saskatoon, SK, Canada S7K 0L3
Price: Free
Presented in partnership with Remai Modern, this community screening of guest pianist, Angela Cheng, alongside the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra brings audiences into the most romantic piece of music ever written, Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concert No 2., as well as Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet and Khatchaturian’s Love Theme, Adagio from Spartacus. Originally performed February 14, 2026.
Manitoba
Winnipeg
Rosamunde Summer Music Festival: Mark Fewer
Piazzolla’s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires
Rosamunde Summer Music Festival
Date: Sun, August 16, 2026 @ 7:30 p.m.
Location: Laudamus Auditorium | 500 Shaftesbury Blvd, Winnipeg, MB R3P 2N2
Price: $30 (students and children under 12 are free)
Piazzolla’s Four Seasons will be performed along with works composed by Serouj Kradjian and Ralph Vaughan Williams as part of the Rosamunde Summer Music Festival.
