Live Music at VPL
Hear unexpected sounds in familiar library spaces, experience new musical traditions, and enrich yourself culturally and socially with our year-round free concerts. With dozens of performances throughout the year, you’re guaranteed to hear something incredible. Join us and open your ears to the sounds of our city!
This program is generously supported by VPL Foundation donors.
Staircase Sounds
These performances provide space for traditional music from communities who have made Vancouver their home, classical music, and other unique musical practices. Concerts will be held on the Grand Staircase, located on Level 8 of Central Library.
Staircase Sounds: Orchid Ensemble
Saturday, April 26, 2025, 12–1 pm, Central Library
Full Details and Registration
Staircase Sounds: Luthieros
Saturday, March 29, 2025, 12-1pm, Central Library
Full Details and Registration
Staircase Sounds: Gamelan Bike Bike
Saturday, March 1, 2025, 12-1pm, Central Library
Full Details and Registration
Staircase Sounds: Zhambai Trio
Saturday, February 1, 2025, 12-1pm, Central Library
Full Details and Registration
Staircase Sounds: Vostok
Saturday, December 7, 12-1pm, Central Library
Full Details and Registration
Staircase Sounds: Butter Quartet
Saturday, November 9, 12-1pm, Central Library
Full Details and Registration
Closing Time
This winter concert series invites local musicians working in ambient, drone, soundscape, and other forms of minimal music to fill the resonant space of Central Library’s Promenade with experimental and unexpected sounds.
Closing Time: enereph
Friday, February 7, 2025, 5-6pm, Central Library
Full Details and Registration
Friday, January 24, 2025, 5-6pm, Central Library
Full Details and Registration
Friday, January 10, 2025, 5-6pm, Central Library
Full Details and Registration
Closing Time: Andromeda Monk
Friday, December 13, 5-6pm, Central Library
Full Details and Registration
Closing Time: Playback Head
Friday, November 29, 5-6pm, Central Library
Full Details and Registration
Closing Time: J.T. Gladysz
Friday, November 15, 5-6pm, Central Library
Full Details and Registration
Expanded Cinema
A new series of performances that combine cinema with live music, movement, theatre, and more.
Expanded Cinema: Magazinist's Anders als die Andern
Expanded Cinema: Mena El Shazly's Hyperopia
Special Events
In addition to our concert series programs, we also host special events with local, national, and international performers throughout the year.
Alphorns in the Atrium
Opera Adventures: Madama Butterfly
North Shore Celtic Ensemble Concert
Thursday, March 13, 2025, 7:00-8:00 pm Central Library
Full Details and Registration
Opera Adventures: Flight
Wednesday, January 29, 2025, 7:00-8:00 pm Central Library
Full Details and Registration
Holiday Slides: A Trombone Concert
Friday, December 20, 2024, 5-6pm, Central Library
Full Details and Registration
Opera Adventures: Die Fledermaus