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.

This evening's concert presents an exploration of sonorities in chamber music, demonstrating the genre's remarkable versatility and expressive power. Similar instruments unite to achieve unmatched richness; contrasting timbres combine to create something altogether new. Through juxtapositions and playful exchanges of voices, the dialogues between the Interplay musicians range from the nuanced to the sublime.

“Franch-Ballester played with technical wizardry and tireless enthusiasm.” — The New York Times.

“One would be hard pressed to find anyone who better embodies the spirit of drumming than Aiyun Huang… Her approach pushes percussion playing to the point that it becomes a kind of theatre.” — The WholeNote

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.

Saskatchewan-based artist Leah Marie Dorion shares the backstory behind her various creative projects involving Métis culture and its relationship to family kinship, identity, and the land. She’ll discuss how she thinks about balancing her artistic impulses with her responsibility to offer accurate representations of Métis children and families.

Leah Marie Dorion is a Métis writer and visual artist. Her artwork celebrates the strength and resilience of Indigenous women and families. A published children's book author and illustrator, she’s currently working to develop Métis early years resources for children and families. She has also participated as a mentor and lead artist for the Mann Art Gallery Indigenous Residency Project. Visit www.leahdorion.ca for more information about her artistic practice.

Facilitated by Janine Windolph, Director of Indigenous Arts at Banff Centre, the session includes a presentation by Dorion, followed by a discussion and a Q&A. This conversation will be live streamed and will also be recorded and shared following the event. Sessions may share experiences and ask difficult questions.

About the Decolonizing the Narrative Conversation Series

The Decolonizing the Narrative Conversation Series is a bi-monthly conversation session inviting leading Indigenous Art creators to discuss their practices and processes. The series engages an Indigenous lens across various art forms, including Literary Arts, Film and Media Arts, Digital Media, Visual Arts, and Performing Arts such as Theatre, Dance, and Music. These sessions offer a space to explore and deepen your understanding of how Indigenous artists use their disciplines as tools to decolonize artistic processes and creation.

Showcasing a wide-ranging selection of works from the past hundred years, this program highlights the remarkable versatility of Interplay musicians. Featuring compositions that require both vigorous technical prowess and delicate emotional nuance, the program celebrates the dynamic range and adaptability of modern chamber music.

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.

One of the masterpieces of Baroque sacred music, Johann Sebastian Bach’s St. Matthew Passion uses a gorgeous weave of arias and chorales to recount Jesus’s final days.

Join us for excerpts from the oratorio 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.

Written in 1727 with a libretto by Picander, the St. Matthew Passion is one of only two Bach Passions to have survived in its entirety. Described by Felix Mendelssohn as “the greatest of all Christian works,” it's both historically significant and deeply moving.

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.

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.

Visit the studios of this year's Early Career Banff Artist in Residence (BAiR) participants and see how they pushed creative boundaries during their five weeks at Banff Centre.

BAiR is 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.

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

This is an exciting opportunity for the artists to share their work, and for the public to ask them about their processes. Artists, art appreciators, and curious first-time viewers alike are encouraged to attend.

Visitors are also welcome to join a guided tour of the current exhibition at Walter Phillips Gallery, Elliptical Lineages. The tour begins at 5:00 p.m. in the Walter Phillips Gallery lobby.

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