This week’s roundup is a blend of soothing garden concerts, soaring chamber music, passionate opera, and an uplifting one-man orchestra.
BC
Victoria
Victoria Conservatory of Music: Abkhazi Garden. Photo: Jeff de Jong
Music in Abkhazi Garden
Victoria Conservatory of Music
Date: Fri, August 21, 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.
Victoria Conservatory of Music
Choral Summer Intensive Final Performance
Victoria Conservatory of Music
Date: Sat, August 22, 2026 @ 7 p.m.
Location: Alix Goolden Performance Hall | 900 Johnson Street, Victoria, BC V8V 3N4
Price: $19
This performance celebrates a wide range of Canadian choral music, featuring works such as Harry Somers’ “Feller from Fortune”, Lydia Adams’ “We Rise Again”, and Eleanor Daley’s “The Stars Are with the Voyager”.
Vancouver
Frankie’s Jazz Club: Neil Swainson. Photo: Cellar Music Group
Neil Swainson Quintet – Live Recording for Cellar Music
Frankie’s Jazz Club
Date: Thurs, August 20, 2026 @ 8 p.m.
Location: Frankie’s Jazz Club | 755 Beatty St, Vancouver, BC V6B 2M4
Price: $29
Four-time Juno award winner and recipient of the 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Toronto Musicians’ Association, Neil Swainson comes to Frankie’s to make a live recording. After having mostly taught himself how to play the acoustic bass, Swainson has accompanied jazz masters and is known for his technical prowess and stylistic versatility.
St. Augustine Series: Majka Demcak
Io la Musica son
St. Augustine Series
Date: Sat, August 22, 2026 @ 7:30 p.m.
Location: St. James Anglican Church | 303 East Cordova Street, Vancouver, BC V6A 1L4
Price: $25-35
Enter into the world of 1600s Venice and experience the vibrance and decadence of Italian baroque music in this live concert featuring Bahareh Poureslami, soprano, Majka Demcak and Pauline Kempf, baroque violins, Kyran Assing, baroque cello/gamba, and Abraham Ross, harpsichord.
Vancouver Academy of Music: Joseph Elworthy
2026 VAM Chamberfest: Faculty Closing Concert
Vancouver Academy of Music
Date: Sun, August 23, 2026 @ 1 p.m.
Location: Vancouver Academy of Music | 1270 Chestnut St, Vancouver, BC V6J 5E5
Price: $27-43
To celebrate the sixth annual Sea to Sky Chamberfest, Vancouver Academy of Music Faculty, including President and CEO, Joseph Elworthy, will perform an afternoon of exceptional chamber music.
Manitoba
Winnipeg
Le Villi (The Fairies)
Manitoba Underground Opera
Date: Wed, August 19, 2026 @ 7:30 p.m.
Location: Roundhouse Auditorium | 319 Elgin Ave Winnipeg, MB R3A 0K4
Price: $25-30
In Puccini’s Le Villi, a man leaves behind love in his quest for wealth. Danger succeeds death as spirits come together to enact vengeance for a woman scorned in an opera that transcends mortality and myth.
Manitoba Chamber Orchestra: Seven Oaks House Museum
Concert on the Veranda
Manitoba Chamber Orchestra
Date: Sat, August 22, 2026 @ 11 a.m.
Location: Seven Oaks House Museum | 50 Mac St, Winnipeg, MB R2V 4Z9
Price: Free
This free, family-friendly, outdoor concert features favourites by Beethoven and Holst performed alongside lively fiddle and folk tunes. The performance celebrates Manitoba’s diverse landscape and spans multiple genres. Concert goers are also able to visit the museum following the performance.
Saskatchewan
Regina
Ian Maksin
Ian Maksin in Regina: Songs of Love & Peace New Album Concert Tour
Ian Maksin
Date: Sun, August 17, 2026 @ 7 p.m.
Location: Westminster United Church | 3025 13th Ave, Regina, SK S4T 1P1
Price: $20-40
Ian Maksin’s one-man cello orchestra performs a multilingual variety of traditional songs spanning the globe in a concert offering comfort, healing and empowerment through music.
