Season: 2022-2023

Selected as Gramophone’s Young Artist of the Year in 2016, baritone Benjamin Appl was a member of the BBC New Generation Artist Scheme from 2014-16, as well as a Wigmore Hall Emerging Artist and an ECHO Rising Star. A captivating and riveting singer, Benjamin is celebrated by audiences and critics alike for a voice that…

CANADIAN DEBUT! 24-year-old Mao Fujita was only 17 and still studying at the Tokyo College of Music when he won First Prize and the Audience Prize at the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition in Switzerland. His captivating performances landed him the Silver Medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 2019. Upon hearing him perform, Leila…

After a gap of way too many years, Italian pianist Andrea Lucchesini returned to the VRS in 2018 and played such a wonderful concert that we immediately re-engaged him. Unfortunately, his 2021 concert was another casualty of the pandemic, but we are so pleased to welcome him back for this performance. BEETHOVEN: Sonata No. 14 in…

ISATA KANNEH-MASON, piano BRAIMAH KANNEH-MASON, violin SHEKU KANNEH-MASON, cello KONYA KANNEH-MASON, piano & violin JENEBA KANNEH-MASON, piano & cello AMINATA KANNEH-MASON, violin & piano MARIATU KANNEH-MASON, cello & piano VRS patrons are very familiar with two members of the prodigiously talented Kanneh-Mason family: cellist Sheku and pianist Isata, who made their Canadian debuts in a…

Ready for something a little different? George Hinchliffe’s Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain is a group of all-singing, all-strumming ukulele players whose concerts are a funny, virtuosic, foot-stomping obituary of rock-n-roll featuring the “bonsai guitar” and a menagerie of voices. Formed in 1985 as “a bit of fun”, the orchestra’s first gig was an instant…

CANADIAN DEBUT! 22-year-old Tom Borrow is precisely the kind of young artist we get excited about. Described as “the very definition of ‘one to watch’” (International Piano Magazine), he was named a BBC New Generation Artist for 2021-23, a coveted and prestigious designation that has earned him engagements at Wigmore Hall and appearances with the BBC Symphony…

The 2022–23 Season marks the 20th Anniversary of the formation of the Grammy-nominated Danish String Quartet. We are thrilled to bring them back for the third concert in their international commissioning project, Doppelgänger. This innovative and daring project pairs four world premieres from four renowned contemporary composers — each piece co-commissioned by the VRS — with…

Midori is a visionary artist, activist and educator who explores and builds connections between music and the human experience and breaks with traditional boundaries, making her one of the outstanding violinists of our time. This season marks the 40thAnniversary of her career, which took off in 1982, when, at the age of 11, she made…

This dynamic quartet brings “a shock to the ears of the best kind” (The Observer). Their 2021 VRS engagement was cancelled due to Covid-19 and we were determined to re-book them at the first available opportunity. Dubbed “a trailblazer for the authentic performance of High Classical chamber music” (Gramophone Magazine), this international ensemble performs music…

THOMAS DUNFORD, lute and Artistic Director LEA DESANDRE, mezzo-soprano LOUISE AYRTON, violin AUGUSTA McKAY LODGE, violin MANAMI MIZUMOTO, viola BRUNO PHILIPPE, cello DOUGLAS BALLIETT, double bass TOM FOSTER, harpsichord & organ For their first concert in Vancouver, this astounding French ensemble, under the direction of lutenist Thomas Dunford (on his third visit to Vancouver), presents…