The 7th annual Sound of Dragon Music Festival presented by Vancouver’s Sound of Dragon Society, comes to The Annex and 8East from April 2 to 5.
Over three concerts and a free community jam event, the festival redefines Chinese music through ground-breaking cross-cultural collaborations – celebrating creativity and innovation by presenting musicians, ensembles, and composers from various ethnicities, nationalities, and musical genres, and by utilizing unique cross-cultural instrumentations reflecting Vancouver’s broad multicultural environment and highly creative music scene.
photos: Soo Gane Won & Dahlia Katz
Sound of Dragon Music Festival Events include:
“Jade Emperor‘s Great Race”
Featuring PhoeNX Ensemble (Toronto) and Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra (Taiwan)
Thursday, April 2, 2026 @ 8pm at The Annex, 823 Seymour Street
PhoeNX Ensemble collaborates with Taiwan’s Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra to present the BC Premiere of Jade Emperor’s Great Race. A Chinese legend of the 12-year zodiac cycle – to measure time, the Emperor held a race, awarding the first 12 animals to arrive with a corresponding year. The order was: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.
The PhoeNX Ensemble has commissioned 14 works in the themes of the 12 animals and the Jade Emperor from award-winning Canadian and Asian composers: Dorothy Chang (BC), Bekah Simms (ON), Lan Tung (BC), Alexina Louie (ON), Vincent Ho (AB), Alice Ho (ON), Andrew Staniland (NFLD), Cecilia Heejeong Kim (Korea), Roydon Tse (SK), Emilie LeBel (AB), Sophie Dupuis (NB), Alfred Wong (Hong Kong), and John Oliver (BC).
Performers:
PhoxNE Ensemble (Toronto): Patty Chan – erhu, Sanya Eng – harp, Ryan Scott – percussion,
with Vancouver guest Sungyong Lim – cello
Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra (Taiwan): Fu-Yun Teng – dizi, Chung-Chi Tsai – erhu, Fu-Hsuan Teng – pipa, conducted by Chih Sheng Chen.
photos: Alistair Eagle,
“Strum, Bow, Roar”
Featuring 88 Strings, Vancouver Erhu Quartet and Multicultural Wind Ensemble
Friday, April 3, 2026 @ 7:30pm The Annex, 823 Seymour Street
The Strum, Bow, Roar concert presents three Vancouver ensembles born from the COVID
pandemic, all using instruments within the same family, either plucked, bowed, or wind. The multi-cultural ensembles brings together musicians and traditions from different cultures while exploring the differences and celebrating the similarities between their instruments and musical traditions.
Performers:
88 Strings: Dailin Hsieh – zheng, Joy Yeh – harp, John Oliver – guitar, Ali Razmi – tar
Vancouver Erhu Quartet: Lan Tung – erhu, Jun Rong – erhu, Parmela Attariwala – viola, Sungyong Lim – cello
Multicultural Wind Ensemble: Amir Eslami – ney, Zhongxi Wu – suona & sheng, Alcvin Ry?zen Ramos – shakuhachi, Charlie Lui – dizi, Hamin Honari – tombak & daf
Encounters: Taiwan, Toronto, Vancouver
Saturday, April 4, 2026 @ 8pm The Annex, 823 Seymour Street
The Encounters: Taiwan, Toronto, Vancouver concert closes the Festival’s three paid concerts. Bringing together visiting musicians from Taiwan’s Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra and Toronto’s PhoeNX Ensemble to collaborate with Vancouver musicians. In addition, the JUNO-nominated Métis singer songwriter/composer Wayne Lavallee will collaborate with erhu player Lan Tung.
Performers:
PhoxNE Ensemble (Toronto):Patty Chan – erhu, Sanya Eng – harp, Ryan Scott – percussion
Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra (Taiwan): Fu-Yun Teng – dizi, Chung-Chi Tsai – erhu, Fu- Hsuan Teng – pipa, Chih Sheng Chen – conductor
Vancouver Musicians: Paolo Bortolussi – flutes, Itamar Erez – guitar, Zhimin Yu – ruan, Dailin Hsieh – zheng, Jonathan Bernard – percussion, Sungyong Lim – cello, Lan Tung – erhu; special guest Wayne Lavallee – vocal
Song of Joy Music Jam, a Free Sound of Dragon Music Festival Community Event co-presented with the NOW Society
Sunday, April 5, 2026 from 2pm to 3:30pm at 8East, 8 East Pender Street
The Sound of Dragon Music Festival wraps up with a free community event that welcomes musicians of all levels and genres to bring any musical instruments and join in this hands-on “freestyle” music jam party.
Sound of Dragon Society presents the 7th annual Sound of Dragon Music Festival from April 2 to 5.
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit soundofdragon.com/festival/2026-festivalSingle tickets are on sale now from $25 regular, $19.99 students/seniors/children
Three-concert Festival Passes can be found at showpass.com/jade-emperor-great-race from $57 regular, $42 students/seniors/children (plus applicable taxes)