in a dark blue night
Praised for her “beautifully clear, light lyric soprano” (Ludwig Van), Canadian soprano
Sara Schabas’ work reimagines the classical canon through playfulness, collaboration,
deeply felt performances and the centering of unheard voices from the past and present.
Schabas has performed as a soloist in opera and concert for organizations including
Vancouver Opera, Pacific Opera Victoria, Théâtre Lyrichorégra on a nine-city tour of
mainland China, Thirteen Strings, the Dayton Philharmonic, the Victoria Philharmonic
Choir, and Soundstreams.
She is a recent winner of the Wirth Vocal Prize and a Regional Finalist with the
Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition.
In 2020, she was nominated for a Dora Award for Outstanding Performance by an
Individual for her performance as Anne Frank in Cecilia Livingston’s Singing Only
Softly. An avid recitalist, she collaborates with soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan
as part of her Equilibrium Young Artists program and frequently gives song recitals at
venues including the Festival d’été de Maison Trestler, Koffler Arts, and the Chapelle
musicale du Bon-Pasteur in Montreal. Recording projects include James Rolfe’s O
Greenest Branch (2026), conducted by David Fallis for New Focus Recordings; David
Jaeger’s " The Sun" for Navona Records (2026); and Juno-winning composer Amy
Brandon’s The Bond, a song cycle written for her (forthcoming).
Schabas began her career singing Papagena (Die Zauberflöte) with Dayton Opera in Ohio
and Juliette (Roméo et Juliette) with the Aspen Opera Theater, as well as performing
Mahler’s Fourth Symphony under the baton of the late Maestro Lorin Maazel.
She furthered her development at the Aspen Music Festival, the Franz-Schubert-Institut,
the Toronto Summer Music Festival, and Highlands Opera Studio, receiving generous
support from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Fondation Jacqueline Desmarais, and
the Fonds de recherche du Québec. saraschabas.com
Born into a family of musicians, Isabelle David is the youngest in a lineage of pianists
dating back five generations. A dedicated artist, she seeks to give voice both to the great
forgotten figures of our musical history and to today’s composers. She weaves
connections between the echoes of the past and contemporary creation.
Praised for her “poetic and flexible virtuosity” (Helsingin Sanomat), the Quebec pianist
made her debut at age 17 with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. She has since
performed as a soloist across Quebec, Canada, and Europe, gracing prestigious stages
such as Carnegie Hall, Jordan Hall, the Helsinki Music Centre, Zipper Hall, the Koffler
Centre of the Arts, the Women’s Musical Club of Winnipeg, as well as venues in Toruń
and Fribourg.
In 2019, alongside the talented violinist Yolanda Bruno, she recorded the album The Wild
Swans. This debut recording highlights the works of eleven exceptional women
composers and includes the first discographic version of Beyond Time, a landmark piece
by Canadian composer Alexina Louie. Isabelle also collaborates regularly with soprano
and conductor Barbara Hannigan (Equilibrium Young Artists).
Over the years, she has earned numerous accolades, including the Borromeo String
Quartet Guest Artist Award (USA), a Sylva-Gelber Music Foundation Award, First Prize
and Most Promising Artist at the CFMTA National Piano Competition, a Hnatyshyn
Foundation Award, First Prize at the Hélène-Roberge Music Competition, and a Grand
Prize at the Canadian Music Competition. She has received grants from the Canada
Council for the Arts and the Père Lindsay Foundation.
In 2020, she completed her doctorate at the Université de Montréal. At the heart of her
research resides the piano literature of brilliant Quebec composer Auguste Descarries.
This choice was inspired by her grandmother, Louise Lussier, also a wonderful pianist
and former student of Descarries. “Mamie Isabelle” shared stories of the Saturday
afternoons she spent at her master’s home; in conveying the emotion of those musical
hours, she passed on a fragment of the refined cultural Montréal of the 1950s—a legacy
Isabelle now delights in sharing with others.
Under the guidance of Jean Saulnier, Isabelle edited Descarries’ manuscripts and brought
his works back to life in concert, in some cases giving their world premiere (Nostalgie).
In 2021, she recorded a solo album entirely devoted to his music. Entitled Souvenirs
d’Auguste Descarries, the CD was nominated for a 2023 Opus Award.
Embracing a modern musical approach where research, creation, and pedagogy intersect,
she currently serves as a piano professor at the Université de Sherbrooke, where she is a
lecturer.
In 2024, Isabelle became the mother of Léo-Paul, whose first expressive outbursts are
already resonating... It seems that musicality is truly in the family’s DNA!
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