The sun may have set on the empire, but the music rolls on. At 8 p.m. this Friday (May 9), the Vancouver Bach Choir will shake the Orpheum’s rafters with its season-closing Last Night of the Proms, inspired by the yearly concert at the Albert Hall in London, England. The program features traditional Brit hits such as Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory—all meant to stir up decorous forms of rowdiness in the boater-hatted audience, who will twirl noisemakers and throw streamers.

The time-honoured meets the cutting-edge as the Lorita Leung Chinese Dance Company and Moving Dragon collaborate on two afternoon dance performances—one at 2 p.m., the other at 4 p.m.—this Sunday (May 11) at the Roundhouse Community Centre. Through Lorita Leung’s classical perspectives and Moving Dragon’s contemporary attack, the show will trace out a kind of summary of Chinese dance’s long evolution. Go to www.newworks.ca/ for more.

It promises to be a battle unlike any other. With names like 5-Spice, Lick the Wax Tadpole, and Disoriental, nine teams will square off in the ninth annual Asian Comedy Night, titled Sketchoff!#%!! Etch-Your-Sketch 2! on Friday and Saturday (May 9 and 10) at the Roundhouse Community Centre. Friday night, a panel of celebrity judges including eTalk reporter and gossip blogger Lainy Lui, MuchMusic host Lauren Toyota, and Dragon Boys actor Edmond Wong will choose the Vancouver Rice Bowl winner.

Toronto is arguably not the centre of the universe, but it is definitely the hub of an exciting new nationwide series of festivals featuring the best rising South Asian–Canadian musical artists. Launched last year in the Big Smoke, desiFEST now has arms in Montreal as well as here in Vancouver, where the festival will shut down Water Street in Gastown from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday (May 3).

Master violinist Vladimir Spivakov formed the Moscow Virtuosi chamber orchestra nearly 30 years ago, back in the depths of the Cold War. But it wasn’t long before the ensemble—made up of some of Russia’s top soloists and concertmasters—was touring the world, establishing a reputation as one of the best of its kind anywhere. The Moscow Virtuosi stops in Vancouver next Thursday (May 8) for an 8 p.m.

All four points of the compass converge at the opening event of this year’s month-long explorASIAN festival. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday (May 1), at UBC’s Frederic Wood Theatre, the young Japanese performers of Infinite Echoes From Japan will not only bring together traditional music and dances from both the southern and northern reaches of their home country, but also fuse East and West by mixing these time-honoured elements with piano and saxophone.

Some rockers succumb to sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll, but Dan Zanes took a decidedly different route. After the birth of his first child, the former lead singer of 1980s indie-rock band the Del Fuegos started making music for kids. A welcome breath of fresh air in the saccharine and sanitized world of children’s music, Dan Zanes and Friends, performing at the Chan Centre this Sunday (April 27) at 3 p.m., plays catchy folk-rock tunes that are as fun for adults as they are for kids.

Anyone who follows flamenco in this town is well acquainted with local maven Rosario Ancer’s exotic story of discovering the art form in Spain, by way of her homeland of Mexico. From Tuesday (April 29) to May 3, she brings it all to the Roundhouse Community Arts Centre stage in her most personal and ambitious dance work to date.

Some operas should come with a warning: “May cause uncontrollable weeping”. And Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème, with its sumptuous melodies and heartbreaking story, is right up there in the tearjerker category with his other works Madama Butterfly and Tosca. Vancouver Opera’s production of La Bohème opens on Saturday (April 26), and you can bet the tale of lovers Rodolfo and Mimi, torn apart by Mimi’s declining health, will raise the Queen Elizabeth Theatre’s sniffle count.

Ballet B.C. tackles two big firsts with its debut of Peter Pan tonight (April 17) at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre: the company has never staged its own family-oriented story ballet, and it’s never flown quite so high before.

The Vancouver World Music Collective is a microcosm of the city’s multicultural identity, bringing together leading artists with roots in traditions from across the globe.

Kate Royal may have a mere 160 friends on her MySpace page, but when the young British soprano exits the Kay Meek stage after her Sunday (April 6) afternoon Vancouver Recital Society concert, she’s bound to have collected a few more. Winner of the 2004 Kathleen Ferrier Award, she was signed to an exclusive contract with EMI Classics in 2006 and has evidently been hitting all the right notes. Plus, her MySpace profile picture is kinda hot.

He’s a successful producer, director, and screenwriter, creator of the hit TV show Everybody Hates Chris. On top of that, his film-acting career is over 20 years old, beginning humbly with the role of a valet at the Playboy Mansion in 1987’s Beverly Hills Cop II. But standup comedy is still Chris Rock’s bread and butter. And not only is he one of the best in the business, he’s also one of the most unpredictable.

You might never know it from all the hatred being spewed in the name of God these days, but at its best, Christianity—like theatre—is about compassion. And compassion can be extremely difficult to muster. By producing Steven Fechter’s The Woodsman, Pacific Theatre, which is a Christian company, is asking us what it might be like to be a pedophile.

Tehran-born Amir Haghighi sings Persian folk songs and spiritual poems in a powerful voice brimming with emotion. Amy Stephen is a harpist inspired by the hauntingly beautiful melodies of Scotland and Ireland.