Early Music Vancouver Summer Festival

The Early Music Vancouver Summer Festival is a series of live concerts and events with traditional music at various venues in Vancouver.

The festival features music by Johann Sebastian Bach, but also by different composers including Mozart, Marenzio and others. It takes place from late July until early August.

Visit the official Early Music Vancouver website for full details about the festival and the organization behind it.

This article includes the following information about the EMV Summer Festival:

Festival Schedule | Other EMV Concerts | About EMV | Other Information

EMV Summer Music Festival

Formerly known as the Vancouver Bach Festival, the EMV Summer Festival is an exploration of traditional music presented by Early Music Vancouver. Each year the festival has a different theme. In 2026 it’s The Power of Music.

The EMV Summer Festival runs from July 31st to August 7th in 2026. There are 11 concerts happening over the course of the summer at various venues in Vancouver.

There’s also usually a fundraising gala that happens a couple days before the festival began. As of mid-June, it’s unclear whether or not there will be one in 2026.

Summer Festival Schedule of Events

The schedule for the 2026 EMV Summer Festival is below. Exact details, however, are subject the change.

Friday, July 31st, 2026

Monteverdi’s Orfeo – an opera that’s sung in Italian with English projected surtitles at the UBC Chan Centre at 7:30 pm. The work is based on the Ancient Greek tragedy of Orpheus, and features a dozen singers accompanied by an orchestra using 17th century instruments.

Saturday, August 1st, 2026

Bach with Weimann: The Compass Rose – Alexander Weimann plays a series of Bach’s pieces on the Pasi organ at West Vancouver United Church, located at 2062 Esquimalt Avenue. The show begins at 3:00 pm.
Bach Dances – Cellist Elinor Frey performs Bach’s first three cello suites while four dancers perform an interpretive routine to the music. The event runs at 7:30 pm inside The Dance Centre at 677 Davie Street.

Sunday, August 2nd, 2026

Monteverdi’s Orfeo – another performance of the opera that’s sung in Italian with English projected surtitles at the UBC Chan Centre at 2:30 pm. The work is based on the Ancient Greek tragedy of Orpheus, and features a dozen singers accompanied by an orchestra using 17th century instruments.

See the Early Music Festival‘s official website for full details about what’s happening and when.

EMV Concert — Concert at the Orpheum (Photo by Jess MacAleese)

Tuesday, August 4th, 2026

Pien d’amoroso affetto… – this concert features vocalist Marc Mauillon and harpist Angélique Mauillon. It’s a smorgasbord of early operatic pieces from Florence and Paris. It takes place at 1:00 pm at Christ Church Cathedral, located at 690 Burrard Street.
Lachrimae – also held inside Christ Church Cathedral at 7:30 pm, this concert pairs up John Dowland’s most famous works with other European songs from the 17th to 20th centuries.

Wednesday, August 5th, 2026

Florilegium: Songs of Medieval England – the musical trio COMTESSA bring to life a collection of songs from between the years 1150 and 1300. The event begins at 1:00 pm at Christ Church Cathedral.
Die schöne Müllerin – an exploration of the Franz Schubert song cycle of the same name, performed by Tyler Duncan and Erika Switzer. The performance starts at 7:30 pm inside Christ Church Cathedral.

Pacific Baroque Orchestra

Thursday, August 6th, 2026

Songline: Musical Hike – a very unique concert experience where audience members walk together through the woods in the Malcolm Knapp Research Forest near Maple Ridge. At certain spots the walk pauses while Marc Mauillon sings selections from his album Songline. There’s a maximum of 35 tickets for this event which begins at 11:00 am.
Beethoven & Schubert Trios – three performers put on a show at Christ Church Cathedral starting at 7:30 pm. This concert features Alan Choo, Jaap ter Linden and David Breitman. Music is by Beethoven and Schubert.

Friday, August 7th, 2026

Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons – violinist Rachel Podger and vocalists Myriam Leblanc and Marc Mauillon join the Pacific Baroque Orchestra to perform the most popular of Antonio Vivaldi’s works. The concert is held at the UBC Chan Centre at 7:30 pm.

Festive Cantatas Christmas Concert

See the Early Music Festival‘s official website for full details about what’s happening and when.

Other Early Music Vancouver Concerts

If you like classical music, especially music played as it was originally done in the era of its composers, you’ll love this series of concerts! Early Music Vancouver hosts concerts at other times of the year too, at least one a month. Concerts in the fall and early winter of 2026 include the following:

Friday, September 18th, 2026 – Music for the Little Ice Age at Christ Church Cathedral.
Friday, October 2nd, 2026 – Blind Man’s Bluff: Concerto di Margherita at Christ Church Cathedral.
Saturday, October 17th, 2026 – A Little Night Music with Mozart at Christ Church Cathedral.
Tuesday, November 17th, 2026 – The Magic of Monteverdi with Les Arts Florissants at the UBC Chan Centre.
Friday, December 4th, 2026 – A French Baroque Christmas with Ensemble Correspondances at the UBC Chan Centre.
Sunday, December 20th, 2026 – Festive Cantatas: Gloria with Vivaldi & Bach at the UBC Chan Centre.

Visit the earlymusic.bc.ca website to learn more about the above concerts and the organization behind them.

Pacific Baroque Orchestra (Photo by Jess MacAleese)

About EMV

The EMV Summer Festival is presented by Early Music Vancouver. The performing arts organization is one of the largest in North America. EMV has been a big part of Metro Vancouver’s cultural scene for over 50 years. The team hosts over 40 events each year, much to the delight of music lovers in Metro Vancouver.

EMV presents artists from different parts of the world to local audiences. The organization also produces its own shows with its in-house band, known as the Pacific Baroque Orchestra. EMV tends to focus on music from the Baroque times, which is from the 1800s.

The organization also usually has a number of concerts over the winter holiday season. See our article about Early Music Vancouver Concerts for information about performances at other times of the year.