The Banff International String Quartet Festival goes beyond traditional concerts, incorporating dance, unexpected instruments, and orchestral elements in performances
Posted on
August 19, 2026
Guests can still purchase tickets to Copland’s Appalachian Spring and Works by Neshama Nashman, Opus13, and Steven Isserlis and Connie Shih.
BANFF, AB, AUGUST 20, 2026 – From September 3-6, 2026, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity invites audiences and media to experience the Banff International String Quartet Festival (BISQFest) as acclaimed string quartets come together for one of the world’s leading chamber music festivals. Individual show tickets and BISQFest LITE packages are still available.
The 2026 edition of BISQFest centres around the classic string quartet—two violins, one cello, and one viola—while expanding through the eyes of choreography, dance, and orchestral sound.
The festival, taking place in the two years between the triennial Banff International String Quartet Competition (BISQC), brings the string quartet into conversation with other forms of performance and artistic expression, expanding chamber music beyond the traditional concert experience. These interdisciplinary concerts offer audiences the chance to experience familiar repertoire in a new light and discover how the intimacy and form of the string quartet can be transformed through the lens of other artists.
If you come to an arts festival, it’s limiting to expect to love every concert in the same way. You should expect to be wrapped in a warm hug by certain pieces and moved by nostalgia by others. You should be uncomfortable with the message of certain pieces. Music is a reflection of our world. Our world doesn’t always smell of roses, and occasionally there will be a thorn. We hope that people come to BISQFest and leave with a range of experiences that just make them more curious and committed to live performing arts.
Barry Shiffman, Director of Banff International String Quartet Competition and Festival
Audience members and artists come to BISQFest with the shared purpose of community and a love for music-making. Guests, musicians, and dancers bump into each other at Vistas Dining Room, in the corridors of the Lloyd Hall hotel, and across campus. The separation between performer and audience member in the concert space dissipates at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.
See the 2026 lineup, which brings the spirit of exploration by pairing some of chamber music’s most celebrated repertoire and performers with unexpected collaborations.
Jan Lisiecki
World-renowned Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki has one of the busiest concert careers of any pianist in the world. Alongside his acclaimed career, Lisiecki has a rooted history with Banff Centre. He was the first artist to make music on campus in the waning days of the pandemic, when he recorded a solo recital for one of the early BISQFests that had to happen online.
This year, he’ll perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C with the Banff Festival Orchestra, alongside a special string orchestra performance of Schubert’s Death and the Maiden. Following the Friday-night concert, Lisiecki will join Barry Shiffman and fellow artists for a one-night-only, intimate gathering in support of BISQC and BISQFest. His final performance takes place at the Rolston Recital Hall with Concertmaster Jonathan Crow, a former BISQC jury member and the Toronto Symphony’s Concertmaster since 2011. Tickets to all three shows are available below:
- Jan Lisiecki with Banff Festival Orchestra
Friday, September 4 | 8 p.m.
Jenny Belzberg Theatre
Tier A $115.00 | Tier B $85.00
- An Evening with Barry Shiffman and Jan Lisiecki
Friday, September 4 | 9:30 p.m.
CLVB '33
Banff Centre fundraising event: $250
- Jan Lisiecki & Jonathan Crow: Beethoven's Spring Sonata
Sunday, September 6 | 2:30 p.m.
Rolston Recital Hall
$64
Death and the Maiden
Death and the Maiden brings the intimate beauty that audiences expect from a Schubert song to the grandeur of an orchestra. This rendition will be played by dozens of performers, leaning into the orchestral sound that isn’t possible with a traditional string quartet.
The performance also combines different life experiences as different generations come together for this orchestra. Led by Jonathan Crow, the concert includes several young players, including Opus13, who took home second place during the 2022 BISQC Competition, Banff’s own violinist Solana Frebold, and Sabina Sanvos, one of Canada's great young cellists.
Copland’s Appalachian Spring and Works by Neshama Nashman
On Saturday, September 5, the evening will begin with Canadian dancer and choreographer Neshama Nashman as she and other dancers bring three new works to life accompanied by string quartet and accordion music. Following Nashman’s works is a chamber music performance of Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring, one of the most iconic pieces of music from the 20th century. The music is the focal point of the performance, featuring 13 performers led by Jonathan Crow.
After I saw the choreography that Neshama had created, I began to see and hear the music differently. Dancers count it in a way that responds to how they hear music, as opposed to how it's printed. That is a very powerful reminder to us string quartet players to bring freedom to how we read and imagine music. Creativity, imagination, and freedom come from exploring music through the eyes of different types of artists.
Barry Shiffman, Director of Banff International String Quartet Competition and Festival
- Copland’s Appalachian Spring & New Dance Works by Neshama Nashman
Saturday, September 5 | 8 p.m.
Jenny Belzberg Theatre
Tier A $85.00 | Tier B $65.00
Stephen Isserlis and Connie Shih
Cellist Steven Isserlis joins pianist Connie Shih for an intimate recital performance. Shih studied at Banff Centre in 1992, and Isserlis will be stepping on the Banff Centre stage for the first time during this year’s BISQFest. Isserlis is a transformative artist who reminds audiences of the importance and power of live music. He lights up the stage with electricity and a compelling communicative power that fully immerses the audience in the artist's feelings.
- Steven Isserlis & Connie Shih
Saturday, September 5 | 10:30 a.m.
Rolston Recital Hall
$64
- Steven Isserlis & Connie Shih
Saturday, September 5 | 2:30 p.m.
Rolston Recital Hall
$64
- Festival Finale: Barry Shiffman, Steven Isserlis and Banff Festival Strings
Sunday, September 6 | 7:30 p.m.
Rolston Recital Hall
$75
Opus13
BISQC 2022 laureates and first prize winners at the 2025 Wigmore Hall and Bordeaux International String Quartet Competitions, Opus13 returns to Banff for two performances. In addition to performing standard string quartet repertoire by composers such as Mozart, Bartók, and Schubert, Opus13 regularly performs Nordic classical and contemporary music. This year, they will perform String Quartet No. 2 “Intimate Letters” and String Quartet No. 1, Op. 27.
- Opus13, Wigmore Hall Competition Prizewinners
Friday, September 4, 2026 | 10:30 a.m.
Rolston Recital Hall
$64
- Opus13, Wigmore Hall Competition Prizewinners
Friday, September 4, 2026 | 2:30 p.m.
Rolston Recital Hall
$64
This intimate weekend concert experience offers curated opportunities to hear laureates from world-renowned musicians alongside the impossible-to-describe beauty of Banff. For more information on BISQFest’s lineup, ticket packages, and schedule, visit banffcentre.ca/bisqfest.
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See Banff Centre’s Media Room here.
For photos, information, or interview requests, please contact:
Carly Maga
Director, Communications
Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
tel: +1.403.763.6210
cell: +1.403.431.3423
carly_maga@banffcentre.ca
About BISQFest
The Banff International String Quartet Festival (BISQFest) is a signature festival experience of the Banff International String Quartet Competition, offering audiences an intimate encounter with leading artists in chamber music today. Set against the backdrop of Banff National Park, the festival reflects Banff Centre’s commitment to artistic excellence, experimentation, and creative collaboration.
About Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
Founded in 1933, Banff Centre is a post-secondary institution built upon an extraordinary legacy of excellence in artistic and leadership development. What started as a single course in drama has grown to become a global organization leading in arts, culture, and creative decision-making across dozens of disciplines, from the fine arts to Indigenous Wise Practices. From our home in the stunning Canadian Rocky Mountains, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity aims to move everyone who attends our campus—artists, leaders, thinkers, and audiences—to unleash their creative potential and realize their unique contribution to build an innovative, inspiring future through education, performances, convenings, and public outreach. banffcentre.ca
Banff Centre
107 Tunnel Mountain Drive
Banff, Alberta
Canada
T1L 1H5
403.762.6100
www.banffcentre.ca
We recognize, with deep respect and gratitude, our home on the side of Sacred Buffalo Guardian Mountain. In the spirit of respect and truth, we honour and acknowledge the Banff area, known as “Minihrpa” (translated in Stoney Nakoda as “the waterfalls”) and the Treaty 7 territory and oral practices of the Îyârhe Nakoda (Stoney Nakoda) – comprised of the Bearspaw, Chiniki, and Goodstoney Nations – as well as the Tsuut’ina First Nation and the Blackfoot Confederacy comprised of the Siksika, Piikani, and Kainai. We acknowledge that this territory is home to the Shuswap Nations, Ktunaxa Nations, and Métis Nation of Alberta, Rockyview District 4. We acknowledge all Nations who live, work, and play here, help us steward this land, and honour and celebrate this place.