The Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts at Queen’s University announced its 2017-18 season line-up on Monday, featuring three music new series and an exhibit.

New this season is the Innovators Series, featuring daring new and recent multi-disciplinary works, a Baroque & Beyond Series, a Children’s Series as well as the Art & Music ROMANTICISM exhibit by Austrian-Canadian artist Ernestine Tahedl featuring art inspired by music.

The 2017-18 season represents the fourth season of the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts, which opened in September 2014.

“We are championing new multi-disciplinary and cross-cultural work and attracting an amazing array of established and emerging talent. The new Innovators Series, the Art & Music partnership and the Children’s Series will broaden our artistic expression and that of our growing audiences,” says Isabel Director, Tricia Baldwin. “The Isabel team feels so privileged to have this performing arts centre with its exquisite acoustics here at Queen’s University, and it is gratifying to hear the outstanding artist feedback about the quality of the Isabel. We have experienced tremendous audience growth in our three short years and are very grateful for the support of the artists and our enthusiastic audiences from Kingston and beyond.”

Returning to the Isabel are the Soloist, Ensemble, Global, and Jazz Series which once again will bring outstanding talent to the Isabel stage.

Details of the Isabel Human Rights Arts Festival will be announced in early 2018.

Premieres include the new Bach and Bonhoeffer program with organist Felix Hell and actor R.H. Thomson, the premiere of the concert version of Charlotte: A Tri-Coloured Play with Music by Alon Nashman and Ales Brezina, a Canadian premiere tour performance of Sweat by Juliet Palmer and Anna Chatterton presented and performed by The Bicycle Opera Project, and a reprise of the 2016 premiere of Dollhouse by Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie in collaboration with Gordon Monahan (this performance is in collaboration with the ToneDeaf Festival).

The Isabel will present an array of outstanding artists including Angela Hewitt, Louis Lortie, the National Arts Centre Orchestra with Alexander Shelley, Camerata RCO (members of the renowned Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra), Austrian Duo Kleinhapl & Woyke, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra with acclaimed South African-born fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout, Arion Baroque Orchestra with Russian violinist Dmitry Sinkovsky, Rémi Bolduc, Lemon Bucket Orkestra, Soundstreams Canada with the celebrated Chinese composer Tan Dun’s Passion after St. Matthew, Suzie LeBlanc, and the London Handel Players (UK).

Top emerging artists include prize-winning pianists Charles Richard-Hamelin and Leon Bernsdorf with the Royal Conservatory Orchestra, artists of the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio, Ten Strings and a Goatskin, The Bicycle Opera Project, and the RCM’s New Canadian Global Music Orchestra.

The 2017-18 season also represents the first year of Queen’s new MA in Arts Leadership program that was co-created by the Isabel and the Dan School of Drama and Music.

For complete details on the 2017-2018 season, visit theisabel.ca.

Subscriptions for the 2017-2018 season are now available. Call the Isabel’s box office – 613-533-2424 (M-F, 12:30-4:30 pm).

Situated on the shores of Lake Ontario, the award-winning Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts brings together exceptional arts spaces and programs with a captivating sense of place to create a dynamic venue for Queen’s students and the community. In addition to the Performance Hall, the other spaces in the 90,000 square foot venue include a studio theatre, a film screening room and a music rehearsal hall. Embracing the principles of interactivity and integration, the School of Drama and Music and the Department of Film and Media share teaching and performance spaces within the Isabel. The Isabel was designed by Oslo/New York-based firm Snøhetta and Ottawa’s N45, with acoustics and theatre design by ARUP and Theatre Projects Consultants. Anchored by a transformational gift to the Initiative Campaign from Drs. Alfred and Isabel Bader, the Isabel was inspired by the Bader’s love – of the arts, of Queen’s, and of each other – and is named in Isabel’s honour.