Join us for an afternoon Visual Arts Open Lecture with Basia Irland, an author, activist, and pioneer of ecological art, based in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

This Fulbright Scholar will give an illustrated presentation about her international large-scale water projects, including A Gathering of Waters, which fosters dialogue and connects communities along the entire length of rivers; Waterborne Disease Scrolls, based on research with epidemiologists; and Ice Book, consisting of sculptures embedded with native seed texts that are floated down global streams to aid river restoration. Her projects have been featured in over 70 international publications.

Irland is on faculty for the Summer Banff Artist in Residence (BAiR) program, which combines the freedom of a self-directed residency with the supportive benefits of an organized program. As well as receiving the space to create, research, and experiment, participants are part of an international community of contemporary artists committed to developing and expanding their practice.    

This event is part of the Visual Arts Open Lecture Series, which presents talks by leading Canadian and international artists, curators, and academics.

Visual Arts is supported by Fondation DRG and the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Outstanding Artist Program.

Join us for an afternoon Visual Arts Open Lecture with contemporary artist MacKenzie Kelly-Frère, who creates breathtaking sculptural and installation works.

As a contemporary artist working with place-based approaches to weaving, Kelly-Frère is fascinated by the myriad ways that cloth entangles cultures, histories, and technologies. In this Summer Banff Artist in Residence (BAiR) faculty talk, Kelly-Frère will discuss plant and material fibres, and their application in a new body of work exploring the ecology of the prairies and foothills regions.

Open to visual artists working across mediums, Summer BAiR combines the freedom of a self-directed residency with the supportive benefits of an organized program. As well as receiving the space to create, research, and experiment, participants are part of an international community of contemporary artists committed to developing and expanding their practice.  

This event is part of the Visual Arts Open Lecture Series, which presents talks by leading Canadian and international artists, curators, and academics.

Visual Arts is supported by Fondation DRG and the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Outstanding Artist Program.

Join us for an afternoon Visual Arts Open Lecture with Governor General’s Award-winning artist Germaine Koh, who works across disciplines.  

Looking at the significance of communal experiences and the connections between people, technology, and natural systems, Koh’s ongoing projects include the Slow Fashion Season events, encouraging sustainability in textiles and clothing; the Home Made Home initiative, exploring alternative forms of housing; the League project, focused on play as a form of creative practice; and a land-based artist residency. Her presentation will focus on the value of hands-on making.

Koh is on faculty for the Summer Banff Artist in Residence (BAiR) program. Open to visual artists working across mediums, BAiR combines the freedom of a self-directed residency with the supportive benefits of an organized program. As well as receiving the space to create, research, and experiment, participants are part of an international community of contemporary artists committed to developing and expanding their practice.

This event is part of the Visual Arts Open Lecture Series, which presents talks by leading Canadian and international artists, curators, and academics.

Visual Arts is supported by Fondation DRG and the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Outstanding Artist Program.

Join curator and writer Tak Pham for a discussion of his curatorial practice.

Pham is currently curator of the Illingworth Kerr Gallery at the Alberta University of the Arts in Calgary. He was formerly associate curator at the Mackenzie Art Gallery in Regina.

He has curated exhibitions and organized curatorial projects for Contemporary Calgary, Confederation Centre Art Gallery, Varley Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Ontario, and Nuit Blanche Toronto, among others. His writings and reviews have appeared in Canadian Art, C Magazine, ESPACE art actuel, esse arts + opinions, Galleries West, The Brooklyn Rail, ArtAsiaPacific, and Hyperallergic.

Pham is a 2025 faculty member for Early Career Banff Artist in Residence (BAiR)—a transformative five-week residency that provides mentorship, critical feedback, and studio time to visual artists and curators in the early stages of their careers.

This event is part of the Visual Arts Open Lecture Series, which presents talks by leading Canadian and international artists, curators, and academics.

Visual Arts is supported by the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Outstanding Artist Program.

Join us for an afternoon talk with Canadian curator Riva Symko.

In this lecture, Symko provides an overview of her own professional practice in order to think through some of the broader curatorial shifts of the past decade and a half. She considers recent curatorial methodologies as a series of relationships that have moved from sites of knowledge, to practices of opportunity, to spaces of care.

Symko is a 2025 faculty member for Early Career Banff Artist in Residence (BAiR)—a transformative five-week residency that provides mentorship, critical feedback, and studio time to visual artists and curators in the early stages of their careers.

This event is part of the Visual Arts Open Lecture Series, which presents talks by leading Canadian and international artists, curators, and academics.

Visual Arts is supported by the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Outstanding Artist Program.

The Handmaids Tale
Composed by Poul Ruders Libretto by Paul Bentley
A new arrangement by Dan Schlosberg, commissioned by Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity

Presented under license from G. Schirmer, Inc. o/b/o Edition Wilhelm Hansen, copyright owners. 

Kamna Gupta, Conductor
Brenna Corner, Director
Amanda Testini, Associate Director
Gillian Gallow Set, Designer
Jessica Oostergo, Costume Designer
Sophie Tang, Lighting Designer
S. Katy Tucker, Projections Designer
Anastasia St. Amand, Intimacy & Fight Coordinator
 

A right-wing theocracy, a burning planet, and resistance against all odds.

The operatic adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s chillingly relevant dystopian classic comes to the stage in the fully realized world premiere of a chamber arrangement by acclaimed pianist Dan Schlosberg, commissioned by Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and performed by Interplay faculty and participants.

This staging of The Handmaid’s Tale marks the culmination of a month-long residency bringing together opera singers, répétiteurs, chamber musicians, stage directors, stage managers, conductors, prop builders, and wardrobe technicians. It provides early-career opera, music, and theatre professionals the unique opportunity to work on a fully produced opera with a world-class creative team, including conductor Kamna Gupta and director Brenna Corner.

“In Dan Schlosberg we trust. He is the musical mastermind behind Heartbeat [Opera]’s daring arrangements, and his work is always intriguing.” — New York Times

“Dan Schlosberg [is] perhaps the wittiest arranger of his generation.” — Observer

Content Advisory:

This opera closely follows the themes and narratives of the original novel with imagery and scenes of sexual and physical violence reflective of the dystopian setting (including depictions of rape and hanging). Viewer discretion is advised. For a full list of content notes please contact Audience Services.

Interplay is made possible through the generous support of the David Spencer Endowment Encouragement Fund and the Yolande Freeze Master Artists in Music Fund.
Banff Centre is in partnership with the Music in PyeongChang.

The music of Canadian-American composer Karim Al-Zand draws from a wide pool of influences, including graphic art, myths, folk music, film, spoken word, jazz, and his own Middle Eastern heritage. In a protean catalogue of solo, chamber, vocal and orchestral compositions, his work embraces a variety of interests, issues, and approaches.

Enjoy selections from his catalogue performed by the participants and faculty of the Interplay program, which celebrates the convergence of opera and chamber music, bringing together composers, musicians, singers, and more.

Interplay is made possible through the generous support of the David Spencer Endowment Encouragement Fund and the Yolande Freeze Master Artists in Music Fund.
Banff Centre is in partnership with the Music in PyeongChang.

Join us for an afternoon talk with Canadian artist Jerry Ropson.

Through an exploration of rural life, material reuse, and site-specificity, Ropson’s artistic practice transforms personal narratives into shared allegories, layering objects and spaces with ritual and resonance. In this talk, Ropson unpacks the tension between vulnerability and preservation, revealing how chance, intuition, and storytelling shape his installations and creative process.

Ropson is a 2025 faculty member for Early Career Banff Artist in Residence (BAiR)—a transformative five-week residency that provides mentorship, critical feedback, and studio time to visual artists and curators in the early stages of their careers.

This event is part of the Visual Arts Open Lecture Series, which presents talks by leading Canadian and international artists, curators, and academics.

Visual Arts is supported by the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Outstanding Artist Program.

Your favourite arias and ensembles are on tap at this casual, wild night, featuring performances from the faculty and participants of Interplay—an innovative program that celebrates the convergence of opera and chamber music, bringing together composers, musicians, singers, and more.

Opera Pub is the perfect introduction for newcomers, and a refreshing new take for opera vets who want something a little different.

Interplay is made possible through the generous support of the David Spencer Endowment Encouragement Fund and the Yolande Freeze Master Artists in Music Fund.
Banff Centre is in partnership with the Music in PyeongChang.

A part of Banff Centre Celebrates, a fundraiser in support of Banff Centre. Learn more about fundraising tickets here.

On the joyous occasion of the 100th birthday of beloved Canadian national treasure, Dr. Oscar Peterson, C.C., The Estate of Oscar Peterson and Banff Centre are proud to come together for a dazzling and unforgettable evening of music. Since his first jazz workshop in 1974 (co-led with Phil Nimmons, O.C.), Peterson's relationship with Banff Centre is deep and legendary. That workshop became an annual event and in five decades, evolved into the renowned Banff International Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music.

Banff Centre will celebrate this history as well as the legacy of Oscar Peterson with some of the most dynamic names in jazz music today: pianists Robi Botos, Taurey Butler and RINA, guitarist Jocelyn Gould, bassists Brandi Disterheft and Dr. Dave Young, C.M., drummer Mark McLean, and vocalist Caity Gyorgy.

Featuring originals and classic jazz standards from throughout Peterson's near seven-decade career, this concert is perfect for the most avid fan or a newcomer to jazz.