Kingston, ON (May 26, 2022) – Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts (“the Isabel”) at Queen’s University announces its 2022/23 Power of Live season that includes 25 Isabel debuts with classical, jazz, global, Indigenous, indie, and children’s artists and creators. The season also features the Bader & Overton Canadian Piano Competition with collaborations with CBC and the Kingston Symphony, the Isabel Human Rights Arts Festival, and the new Art for All visual arts event led by Kingston’s Catie Allan.
Details on programming are contained in the Isabel’s 2022 23 season brochure: https://www.queensu.ca/
Most programming also will be streamed with high-fidelity sound on the Isabel Digital Concert Hall.
Gryphon Trio and Sistema Kingston are artists in residence this season.
“It is so great to have live performances again and we’re doing this with spectacular energy and vision for live performance,” says Tricia Baldwin, Director of the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts. Most of the 2022/23 season events will also be streamed on the Isabel Digital Concert Hall for local, national, and international access.
THE SEASON
*Asterisk denotes the artist’s Isabel debut.
Soloist Series
Steven Isserlis* (cello) with pianist Connie Shih*; Angela Hewitt (piano); International Queen Elisabeth Grand Prize winner Stella Chen* (violin) with pianist Henry Kramer*; Honens International Piano Competition artistic director Jon Kimura Parker* and 2018 winner Nicolas Namoradze*; and the illuminating, lyrical pianist, Boris Giltburg*.
Ensemble Series
Manchester Collective* with South African cellist Abel Selaocoe* in Sirocco; Israeli Chamber Players*, Quartetto di Cremona*; National Arts Centre Orchestra with Brahms Fourth Symphony and a work by Margaret Atwood* and Jake Heggie*; and Gidon Kremer*, one of the top violinists in the world, with the Gidon Kremer Trio*.
Baroque Series
A Tribute to Jeanne Lamon (1949-2021) with Tafelmusik’s former Principal Cellist Christina Mahler and friends; Les Violons du Roy; and Arion Baroque Orchestra and Samantha Louis-Jean* in their Vivaldi and His Curious Friends program.
Jazz
Kingston jazz artists Chantal Thompson and her band; Hilario Duran and His Latin Big Band*; and Toronto All-Star Big Band*.
Global
Cree singer, cellist, and composer Cris Derksen; Lemon Bucket Orkestra; and Autorickshaw.
Kingston Children’s Corner
Classic Roots with his Boreal Spirit Indigenous program; Alex Mundy and Christina Foster* with Our Song: Singing and Songwriting for Children; and Autorickshaw with Music of India: Made in Canada!
Kingston Indie
The Gertrudes; Kris and Dee*; The Wilderness*; Emilie Steele and the Deal; and The Abrams.
Human Rights Arts Festival
- Sounding Thunder: The Song of Francis Pegahmagabow by Armand Ruffo* and Tim Corlis*
- ECHO: Memories of the World – 2nd free workshop, Gryphon Trio, Marion Newman, Nordic Voices*, and friends.
- The Crossing by Shimon Attie* art film made with 7 Syrian refugees who have recently arrived in Europe, many on rafts. This event/installation is the initiative of Dorit Naaman, Alliance Atlantis Full Professor and Graduate Chair, Queen’s Department of Film and Media.
- This IS Evidence: Re-Picturing Sound Asian Migrant Men In Greece – back by popular demand.
Bader & Overton Canadian Piano Competition
The Isabel launches its third prestigious national music competition, the Bader & Overton Canadian Piano Competition, open to pianists who are Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada between the ages of 18-29 as of January 1, 2023 and who aspire to a professional concert career.
The competition will be accepting applications starting September 6, 2022 at app.getacceptd.com/theisabel.
APPLICATION DEADLINE is December 5, 2022. Repertoire information, competition rules and application will be online on September 6, 2022 at: app.getacceptd.com/theisabel.
Bader & Overton Canadian Piano Competition Semi-Finalist Rounds will be held May 10 and 11, 2023, from 1 PM to 4:30 PM, and the Finalist Round will be held on May 13, 2023 at 6:30 PM.
FIRST PRIZE: The Isabel Overton Bader, Clifford Overton and Francoise Landry Prize for $20,000 CAD, a future engagement to perform a concerto with the Kingston Symphony, and a future engagement to perform a recital at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts that will be recorded by CBC Music for national broadcast.
SECOND PRIZE: The Margaret Foster and Katherine Foster Prize for $6,000 CAD.
THIRD PRIZE: The Marion Dick Memorial Prize for $4,000 CAD.
THE BADER FAMILY AUDIENCE PRIZE: $1,000 CAD.
Special Performances
Bruce Xiaoyu Liu*, Piano – 2021 first prize Canadian First Prize Winner, International Chopin Competition in Warsaw.
National Youth Orchestra of Canada (in residence at Queen’s University this summer)
foldA Festival of Live Digital Sound – see www.folda.ca for details on their festival.
Faculty Artist Series presented by the DAN School of Drama and Music.
