From April 28 to May 6, Vancouver Opera presents two main-stage operas, plus dozens of concerts and events celebrating Russian composers and the artists they inspired. The Vancouver Opera Festival takes place at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver Playhouse, Orpheum Theatre, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, CBC Studio 700, The Post at 750, Vancity Theatre, and on the Queen Elizabeth Theatre Plaza. (Performances of The Overcoat continue until May 12.)

Highlights include Canadian composer James Rolfe’s The Overcoat—a musical tailoring, a groundbreaking new co-production with Toronto’s Canadian Stage Company and Tapestry Opera and is inspired by librettist and director Morris Panych’s highly successful physical theatre production of The Overcoat in 1998; Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, a co-production with Calgary Opera featuring a timeless and emotional story of ill-fated love with breathtaking music, choreography, lavish orchestrations, and compelling arias.

The Vancouver Opera Festival will also feature Requiem for a Lost Girl, a chamber musical collaboration written and directed by Onalea Gilbertson, composed and conducted by Marcel Bergmann with additional music by The Kettle Choir and Writer’s Workshop; an original series of short chamber music concerts featuring Russian composers and Russian-inspired artists, performed by members of the Vancouver Opera Orchestra and invited guests; plus street performers, food trucks, and a full day dedicated to family programming.

Tickets and passes available from the VO Ticket Centre, 604-683-0222, or online.