About The Isabel

Finalist Rounds of the 2026 Bader & Overton Canadian Piano Competition at the Isabel! Join us in watching today’s top young Canadian pianists.

Day 2 of the Semi-Final Rounds of the 2026 Bader & Overton Canadian Piano Competition at the Isabel! Join us in watching today’s top young Canadian pianists.

Day 1 of the Semi-Final Rounds of the 2026 Bader & Overton Canadian Piano Competition at the Isabel! Join us in watching today’s top young Canadian pianists.

Join us online for the launch of our 2026-2027 Season on Wednesday, April 29, where we’ll unveil the exciting performances and artists coming to our stage next year. The season presentation will begin at 5:00pm in the Jennifer Velva Bernstein Performance Hall.

Thank you for an incredible 10th Season of performances and events at the Isabel. We look forward to welcoming you to our upcoming 2025-2026 Season of Extending the Rafters.

This free-of-charge symposium will feature keynote and plenary speakers from Chemistry and The Arts, the Bader Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Scholar Lectures, a multidisciplinary poster session, and an artistic/musical exhibition. The symposium will conclude with a plenary lecture by Dr. Daniel Bader, CEO/President of Bader Philanthropies, Inc., through the Brockington Visitorship.

Step into a special anniversary event at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts, celebrating a decade of artistic and architectural impact. This event includes conversations and presentations, where voices behind the building’s creation and evolution—including contributors from Snøhetta, N45 Architecture, and Arup, alongside Isabel Director, Gordon E. Smith—share insight into the vision, design, and lasting influence of the space.

We are delighted to host National Youth Orchestra of Canada here at Queen’s this summer. Following an intensive six-week residential training institute, NYO will perform a concert at the Isabel featuring brand new commissions to the beloved favourites of Richard Strauss and Johannes Brahms.

Supported through the Ballytobin Foundation, the Isabel created its new IMAGINE Project Creation @ the Isabel program that supported Kingston artists and beyond in their creation-based artist and creator residencies, online arts education initiatives, film creation, audio recording creation, and high-fidelity streaming.

Join us for the book launch, reading, and concert celebrating Suzanne Pasternak’s new book Minerva, a dramatic and true cross-border story that tells the tale of a young 17-year-old ship’s cook from 1878. Minerva McCrimmon was a famous heroine in both Oswego, New York and Prince Edward County, in Canada.

The Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts asked itself, “What CAN we do that would amplify the voices and creativity of artists, students, creators, and educators in a rapidly-evolving multi-platform world?” Supported through the Ballytobin Foundation, the Isabel created its new IMAGINE Project Creation @ the Isabel program that supported Kingston artists and beyond in their creation-based artist and creator residencies, online arts education initiatives, film creation, audio recording creation, and high-fidelity streaming.

Supported through the Ballytobin Foundation, the Isabel created its new IMAGINE Project Creation @ the Isabel program that supported Kingston artists and beyond in their creation-based artist and creator residencies, online arts education initiatives, film creation, audio recording creation, and high-fidelity streaming.

The concert includes a fabulous collection of songs built upon introspective lyrics, harmony-laden choruses, and guitar riffs.

The Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts asked itself, “What CAN we do that would amplify the voices and creativity of artists, students, creators, and educators in a rapidly-evolving multi-platform world?” Supported through the Ballytobin Foundation, the Isabel created its new IMAGINE Project Creation @ the Isabel program that supported Kingston artists and beyond in their creation-based artist and creator residencies, online arts education initiatives, film creation, audio recording creation, and high-fidelity streaming.