Six artists selected for Isabel Bader Centre’s IMAGINE Arts Incubator, spotlighting bold new voices

Projects explore migration, identity, accessibility and underrepresented stories through music, audio and video.

Six artists have been selected for the 2025–26 IMAGINE Arts Incubator at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts at Queen’s University.

The program supports professional artists from Kingston and across Canada by providing venue space, production staff and artist honoraria. Launched in 2020, the incubator is designed to foster creativity, collaboration and innovation.

This year’s projects include audio and video recordings and creator residencies. Together, they explore themes such as migration, memory, identity, accessibility and the amplification of underrepresented voices.

“The Isabel Bader Centre is committed to supporting creative work that reflects the social and cultural realities of our time,” said Gordon E. Smith, director of the centre. He said the selected projects demonstrate artistic innovation and cultural equity.

The 2025–26 cohort includes Saman Shahi, Ricard Soler Mallol, Daniel Hamin Go, Sylvie Cheng, Luke Welch and Oscar Evans.

Shahi will record Fragments, a choral and string work inspired by refugee stories. Soler Mallol will develop The Last Quartet, a multidisciplinary performance blending music and documentary. Go’s Dear Father is a deeply personal audio and video project exploring faith, family and identity.

Cheng’s Duo BelleVie will create video recordings highlighting women and Canadian composers. Welch will record a piano album focused on Black female classical composers. Evans will lead a blindfolded, improvised chamber music recording reflecting his experience as a blind musician.

The program is supported by Bader Philanthropies and the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts.

Story by Alyssa Brush