Improv Karaoke #40

Improv Karaoke #40

Free, public, monthly community event open to improvising musicians of all genres and experience levels to play collaboratively.

75 followers
By Improv Karaoke Team
75 followers
Lots of repeat customers 📈

Date and time

Mon, Jul 14, 2025 6:00 PM - 9:30 PM PDT

Location

Brentwood Presbyterian Church

1600 Delta Avenue Burnaby, BC V5B 3G2 Canada

About this event

  • Event lasts 3 hours 30 minutes

Improv Karaoke is bringing musicking beyond Chinatown, Vancouver and coming to you

On the second Monday of every month in Burnaby...

Come play improvised music in a collaborative setting! Open to improvising musicians of all genres and experience levels. Small ensembles will be randomly created from musicians that register (that’s you!) to play short sets together.


  • Doors/Set Up - 6pm, Music 6:30-9:30pm
  • Admission is free; donations are welcome at the door (cash only) and will go towards the Brentwood Presbyterian Church.
  • *Free* snacks - feel free to bring any of your favourite munchies potluck style!
  • Mugs available on-site
  • Listeners are always welcomed and do not need to register.
  • *Accessibility Note: There are stairs to access washrooms in Brentwood Presbyterian Church. Please contact us if you need help!
*This event is recorded via photograph, short videos, and audio for archival purposes. Photographs and short videos may be posted via Instagram in the spirit of sharing. Please reach out to us if this is not within your comfort and we will absolutely respect your request no questions asked!


To participate:

  • Registrations will open 1 week prior to each monthly event.
  • Please register via Eventbrite only if it is your first time coming. If you are a returning musician, no action needed!
  • Drop-in registrations at the door are available but capacity-dependent
  • If it says Sold Out, come anyway and we'll do our best to slip you into an ensemble!"


Bring with you:

  • Bring your instruments, cables, amps, and smiles!
  • Electronic Instruments and Laptops welcomed.
  • Available on-site: drum set (incl. cymbals/hi-hats), piano, guitar amp, bass amp, vocal mics.
  • We don't have many extra 1/4" cables.


When you Arrive:

  • Come say "hi!" to one of our hosts at the check-in counter and create your very own karaoke-card!
  • Returning musicians: help us out by finding your karaoke-card!
  • If you check in before , we'll have you down to play in Round 1 (starts sharp).
  • Rushing from work/other places to be? We love that you're coming out anyway and will include you in Round 2.
  • Priority will be given to those who have checked in on a first-come-first-serve basis. "



*This event will be co-hosted by Noah Franche-Nolan, Harmeet Virdee, and Bahar Khazei.

*If you have any questions, comments, and/or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact our organizer Andrea Wong at improv.karaoke.yvr@gmail.com. She is friendly. :)

*We are incredibly grateful to be hosting our Burnaby series of Improv Karaoke nights at the Brentwood Presbyterian Church.

*Thank you for coming out and supporting the improvised music community.

Frequently asked questions

What do I need to bring?

Bring your instruments, 1/4" cables, and smiles! It sometimes gets loud so you may decide to bring some *earplugs*.

Tags

Organized by

Improv Karaoke Team
75 followers
Lots of repeat customers

The Improv Karaoke Team consists of four music friends with a passion for free improvisation. They are on a mission to fuse musicians from different genres, practices, and experiences to further connect, support, and strengthen our local music community.

More info about your Improv Karaoke hosts/organizers: Andrea Wong & Spencer Schoening of Public Dreams, Mike WT Allen, and Matthew Ariaratnam.

~

What is Improv Karaoke?

Improv Karaoke developed from a desire to create more regular opportunities for collaboration, discovery, and innovation within our local improvising community. Co-hosted by Andrea Wong, Spencer Schoening, Mike WT Allen, and Matthew Ariaratnam, this artist-run community event started in December 2022 and has been a monthly series where improvising musicians of all genres and experience levels drop in, sign up, and play in new ensembles created from a pool of names freshly drawn out of a bowl.

~

Of all the ways to play collaboratively, why free improvisation?

Because of its ease, widespread relevance, and accessible nature! Improvisation can be approached by musicians from any culture, any generation, and with any amount of experience, breaking down many practical and creative barriers to collaboration. Free improvisation additionally removes barriers to making music including any necessity for a particular instrumentation; shared knowledge-base such as Western music notation fluency; specific qualifications, merit, or credentials; or a pre-curated set-list of standards or repertoire selection. Musicians merely need to be open-minded to improvise with each other. With minimal preparation required, the flexible nature of improvising provides an excellent creative setting to focus on musical connection and innovation. By facilitating opportunities for our community to mindfully improvise together - a setting that practices adaptability and attentive listening - the desired outcome of this project is a stronger, more diverse and interconnected music ecosystem. This project invites people to gather and play together, with hopes it seeds new musical collaborations and branches outwards as a more nourished and sustainable music community.