By Emily R. Zarevich, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Literature, music, theatre, the visual arts. These are the components of an enlightened, liberal education, the interests of curious, creative people, and a great privilege of living in a city like Burlington that offers all of it. Here’s what’s going on in the arts and culture sector this month.
April is the official National Poetry Month. Early this month, Burlington will celebrate the publication of one of its own esteemed residents. On April 7, 2026, Rik Emmett, the lead guitarist of the rock band Triumph and a settled-in Burlingtonian, will debut his second collection of original prose, Leaning Into It. Brought out by ECW Press, this volume offers readers Emmett’s eloquent, individual musings as a musician, artist, philosopher, and political commentator of global events. The book has garnered enough attention to be included in the CBC’s recent list of most anticipated spring 2026 poetry titles, compiled by arts journalist Elena Hudgins Lyle.
All month long, the Burlington public libraries will be celebrating Poetry Month with a selection of events and activities designed to have attendees thinking deeply about rhymes, styles, and what inspires them to scribble verse in their notebooks. Poet Barbara Tran will be appearing at the Central Library location on Sunday, April 19, 2026, to read aloud from and answer inquiries about her triumphant debut publication, Precedented Parroting. Central will also be hosting its annual Open Mic Night for any aspiring poets in the city seeking an audience on Sunday, April 26, 2026. It’s a chance for new voices to be heard. More information can be found on the library’s website.
For those looking to purchase rather than borrow poetry books, A Different Drummer Books, located on Locust Street, has a fine poetry corner, well-stocked with everything from English translations of Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy to Mary Oliver’s repertoire to sleek, hard-cover editions of American actor Matthew McConaughey’s Poems & Prayers. Booked Experiences on Plains Road also offers a selection of poetry titles on its well-organized shelves. For writers of poetry, Burlington Local-News.ca’s “Burlington’s Got Talent” column is accepting submissions for consideration to be published on the site.
READ MORE: Burlington’s Got Talent
For those who have an interest in the history of classical music, Abigail Richardson-Schulte of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra is scheduled to come to Burlington to give two intriguing lectures on the lives of the great composers familiar to all connoisseurs. The first, “Beethoven and Brahms,” will take place on Friday, April 10, 2026, at Central from 2:00–3:00 p.m. The second, “In and Out of Russia,” which will doubtlessly incorporate the ballets and operas of Tchaikovsky and his contemporaries, will take place on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, from 2:00–3:00 p.m. at Central as well. There is still time to register for the talks.
On April 8, 2026, Burlington Student Theatre will be showing off both their young acting talent and their honour-roll-level literary comprehension in a one-night-only production of Book’D — From Poe to Potter at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre (BPAC). SOLO, or the Southern Ontario Lyric Opera, will be holding a season-closing concert to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the formation of their thriving company on April 22, 2026, at BPAC. Soprano Maria Vetere, the glittering star of last year’s Puccini tragedy Tosca, is set to return to the stage along with the powerfully voiced tenor, Romulo Delgado.
Also on the schedule at BPAC will be performances by Nuevo Flamenco guitarist Jesse Cook on April 28, 2026, and the all-male chorus Men of the Deep on April 29, 2026. And though the venue is not located directly in Burlington, tickets to Village Theatre Waterdown’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, a comedy by Christopher Durang with an opening night scheduled for April 17, 2026, can be purchased from the BPAC website. Three catty and petty middle-aged siblings and a bewildered lover who also loves to be snarky will square off in what is anticipated to be a skillful display of sharp wit with a local cast. Jaclyn Scobie is directing.
Right in the centre of Burlington’s arts hubs, culture and sports have gotten married, though a fictional couple has divorced. Theatre Burlington on New Street has partnered up with the Burlington Curling Club, also situated on New Street, to promote the opening night of the theatre’s production of Canadian playwright Kristen Da Silva’s Hurry Hard on April 17, 2026. Theatre Burlington and the Burlington Curling Club are a curling stone’s sweep away from each other, so it is entirely appropriate that the theatre should produce a play in which the popular sport is the centre of the conflict. A sporty, feuding couple, Bill and Sandy, have split up, slicing their curling team into two rival factions as if the Capulets and the Montagues were competitive athletes in a funnier timeline. It’s set to be a wildly entertaining comedic experience, directed by Jerrold Karch. Tickets are still available.
Movie lovers will be excited to hear that Burlington’s own Chandler Levack, the film director who made the city the setting for her acclaimed I Like Movies, will be coming out with her latest project this month. On April 17, 2026, Netflix will premiere Levack’s Roommates, a comedy of psychology in which two young college women with vastly different personalities attempt cohabitation in a cramped dormitory.
Levack’s 2025 Mile End Kicks will also have limited-time showings at the Fox Theatre in Toronto starting April 17, 2026, as well. Mile End Kicks follows an energetic music journalist in 2011 (practically a period drama), navigating career success and love in a very lively, transitional time for indie-rock in Canada.
Readers can regularly check Burlington Local-News.ca for updates and reviews of media and culture related to the Burlington area.
