opera · early music · performance ·
fiction · poetry · creation
Isabella Shaw is a Finland-based African-American mezzo/contralto and multidimensional performer-creator working in opera, early music, and contemporary performance. She is also a published poet, librettist, and fiction author, developing new opera, music, and literary works centering queer and Afrodiasporic perspectives, mythology, physical and metaphysical ecosystems, and relationships with the natural world.
recent highlights
Doriclea: Inter-Acts — Doriclea / co-creator
(F. Cavalli) · Ensemble Nylandia / Re:Naissance Opera / Weimar Baroque / Belle Spirale / Fractal Arts Collective · Helsinki Music Center · 2026
Finnish National Opera / Sugar Factory 2026
Love is a Rebellious Bird (S. Hille, C. Baltzar) — Crow 3
The Mouthpiece (S. Webb, S. Orenius) — Mila / Äiti
Send it by the Water
Concert · commissioned song & performer · The Fine Hand · Utrecht Early Music Festival (NL) / Flores Musicae (SL) / Brighton Early Music Festival (UK) / All’improviso Festival (PL) · 2024, 2026
Sonya Lindfors: One Drop
Working Group, opera singer · Finnish National Theatre / Dance House / UK–Nordic–Germany tour · 2023–26
Ada Lovelace — Ada Lovelace / libretto
(U. Pulkkis, I. Shaw) · G-Live Lab / Helsinki Contemporary Opera Festival · 2024, 2025
La Doriclea — Doriclea / Concept
(F. Cavalli) · Ensemble Nylandia · Dance House · 2024
Alcina’s Island — Melissa
(F. Caccini) · HEBO / Arkkityypit · Alminsali, Finnish National Opera · 2024