Grammy-winning tenor & curator Nicholas Phan in 2026–27: new album, Art Song Chicago, St. Matthew Passion at 300, & returns to Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, & 92NY
Nicholas Phan (photo: Henry Dombey)
(August 2026) — “One of the world’s most remarkable singers” (The Boston Globe), Grammy-winning tenor Nicholas Phan embarks on a 2026-27 season built around a single question: what does 300 years of classical music say about the debates consuming public life today? To open the season, he curates and performs in Art Song Chicago’s 2026 Collaborative Works Festival, “Songs of the Earth,” which uses song to explore humanity’s shifting relationship with the natural world (Sep 23 & 26). In tandem with Avie Records’ release of Fellow Citizens, on which he and pianist Myra Huang give the world premiere recording of Shawn Okpebholo’s The Beautiful alongside other songs about migration and immigration narratives (Nov 13), Phan and the pianist give live recitals at San Francisco Performances (Oct 22) and New York’s Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (March 4). Against the backdrop of his ongoing podcast and web series BACH 52, which asks whether Bach’s music is for everyone, the tenor celebrates the 300th anniversary of the St. Matthew Passion with appearances as the Evangelist with the Cincinnati Symphony (March 13 & 14) and in his Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France debut (March 26 & 27), before headlining the closing night of Orchestra of St. Luke’s annual Bach Festival at New York’s Carnegie Hall (June 22). In tours with two period instrument ensembles, Phan considers the cost of leadership and who deserves mercy. With Opera Lafayette in Washington, D.C. and New York, he performs aria settings by Mozart and his contemporaries of Metastasio’s libretto La clemenza di Tito (May 1 & 4), after joining Il Pomo d’Oro in New York, Ann Arbor, and Berkeley in the title roles of Carissimi’s oratorio Jephte and – opposite Joyce DiDonato – of Purcell’s opera Dido and Aeneas (Feb 4–10).
Fellow Citizens: new album & live recitals
Fellow Citizens, Phan’s eleventh album on the Avie Records label, is due for release on November 13. On the new recording, he and his regular recital partner, pianist Myra Huang, explore narratives of migration and immigration through the lens of song. Their program’s centerpiece is the world premiere recording of Shawn Okpebholo’s new song cycle, The Beautiful, of which they gave the first performance at this summer’s Tanglewood Music Festival. The cycle will be heard alongside songs by composers ranging from Schubert, Dvořák, Vaughan Williams, and Bartók to Irving Berlin, Florence Price, Ruth Crawford Seeger, Errollyn Wallen, Mohammed Fairouz, and Eric Malmquist, the Chicago-based composer from whose Fellow Citizens the album takes its name. Phan says:
“The trope of ‘The Wanderer’ is one that has been romanticized by composers for centuries. Experiencing these songs in the context of our current moment, in which forced human displacement is becoming an increasingly global issue due to a variety of factors, offers a unique lens for listeners to consider this subject. It is clear that the questions of ‘what home really means’ and who belongs are ones that will continue to be debated and politicized worldwide in the coming decades. This program is offered as an attempt to center human experience and invite empathy and compassion to hold a primary place in that discussion.”
Fellow Citizens preview video
Over the coming season, Phan and Huang give live multimedia performances of the “Fellow Citizens” program for San Francisco Performances at San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre (Oct 22), which hosted the historic signing of the United Nations Charter in 1945, and for Capital Region Classical in Schenectady, NY (Jan 17). At both events, their song interpretations will be accompanied by projections showing historical photographs of migrants throughout American history. Phan and Huang also reunite in New York City, where Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center presents their New York City premiere of Okpebholo’s The Beautiful, their reprise of Malmquist’s Fellow Citizens, and Phan’s account of Nico Muhly’s Stranger, for which he will be joined by the Viano Quartet (March 4).
J.S. Bach: St. Matthew Passion tricentennial & more
The music of J.S. Bach remains central to Phan’s programming over the coming season. In his ongoing podcast and web series, BACH 52, he continues addressing the question, “Is the music of Bach for everyone?” through new episodes that pair interviews with filmed performances of tenor arias from Bach’s sacred cantatas. Through his interviews with a diverse array of guests, who range from religious leaders and diplomats to music educators, musicologists, musicians, and artistic executives, Phan takes this question as the springboard for exploring more broadly the role of classical music in religious, civic, and cultural life today. He also headlines a live program inspired by the series. Led by Nicholas McGegan, this forms the final concert of Orchestra of St. Luke’s annual Bach Festival at New York’s Carnegie Hall (June 22).
Spring 2027 marks the 300th anniversary of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. Phan participates in the worldwide observances of the tricentennial, reprising his signature role of the Evangelist at performances of the work in Paris, where he makes his Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France debut under the baton of music director Jaap van Zweden (March 26 & 27), and with the Cincinnati Symphony and music director Cristian Măcelaru, with whom he also undertakes the oratorio’s tenor arias (March 13 & 14). Having sung the Evangelist multiple times on three continents, Phan has already collaborated on the St. Matthew Passion with both conductors, most recently performing the work with Măcelaru, at both the Colorado Symphony and Bucharest’s Romanian Athenaeum, and with van Zweden at both the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the New York Philharmonic. This last collaboration prompted the Financial Times to hail the tenor as “an Evangelist brimful of such empathy as to be quite heartbreaking.”
Art Song Chicago: 2026 Collaborative Works Festival
As the Founder and Artistic Director of Art Song Chicago, Phan continues to redefine the art song recital as a dynamic and socially engaged form. He opens the organization’s 16th season at the helm of the 2026 Collaborative Works Festival, its annual concert series that explores a different theme through the lens of song each September. This year’s edition, “Songs of the Earth,” investigates humanity’s continually evolving relationship with the environments that surround us. The festival’s two programs chart the progression from communion with nature to contemplation of its power and finally to a reckoning with our impact upon it. The first concert, “The Secret Garden,” meditates on the multitude of ways that flora and fauna have inspired composers and poets alike over the centuries (Sep 23). The second, “Gods of the Earth,” examines the ways in which humanity has at times viewed nature as a mystical force to be feared, but at others attempted to dominate it (Sep 26). The program features the Midwest premiere of Vivian Fung’s song cycle Lamenting Earth, the title work from Phan’s most recent Avie Records album, released this past April. To perform it, Phan will be joined by the Jasper String Quartet, as on the recording, of which AllMusic writes:
“This album succeeds as both an artistic achievement and a genuine invitation to listen carefully to the environmental crisis. The ensemble demonstrates that art song tradition remains a vital medium for addressing contemporary urgency.”
Tours with Opera Lafayette, Il Pomo d’Oro, & Joyce DiDonato
Phan completes his season with three seminal takes on political leaders from antiquity, in collaboration with two Baroque period instrument ensembles: Il Pomo d’Oro and Opera Lafayette.
First, on a U.S. tour with Il Pomo d’Oro, he portrays two military commanders and examines the sacrifices that leadership demands. In the title role of Carissimi’s oratorio Jephte, he plays the biblical commander who must sacrifice his daughter to fulfill a vow he made to God, to ensure his victory over the Ammonites. Similarly, in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Phan sings Aeneas, the Trojan hero who chooses, instead of staying with his beloved, to lead his exiled people to Italy, resulting in the foundation of Rome. In the role of Dido, Aeneas’s doomed lover, Phan and Il Pomo d’Oro will be joined by superstar mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, on a tour that takes them to New York’s 92nd Street Y (Feb 4 & 5), Ann Arbor’s UMS (University Musical Society) (Feb 7), and Cal Performances Berkeley (Feb 10).
In May, Phan joins forces with the Washington, D.C.-based Baroque ensemble Opera Lafayette. At venues in Washington, D.C. (May 1) and New York City (May 4), he headlines a program that brings to life the title character from Metastasio’s libretto La clemenza di Tito through arias by Mozart and three of his older contemporaries – Johann Adolf Hasse, Christoph Gluck, and Josef Mysliveček – all of whom wrote operas based on the librettist’s depiction of the famously merciful Roman emperor. Phan explains:
“The title character in Mozart’s final opera holds more relevance now than ever, as he grapples with a defining choice in his style of leadership: does he rule as a tyrannical despot? Or does he lead with compassion? Delving into these various treatments of Metastasio’s libretto by Mozart and his contemporaries offers an opportunity for audiences to consider that choice and what it could mean in our current moment.”
Recent highlights
Phan’s 2026-27 engagements follow a summer spanning centuries of repertoire, from the music of Handel to that of 20th-century icons Stravinsky, Barber, and Britten, and to two world premiere performances: Shawn Okpebholo’s The Beautiful, as part of a “Fellow Citizens” recital at the Tanglewood Music Festival, and Jake Heggie’s new opera, The Judgement of Paris. Commissioned for the 20th anniversary season of Festival Napa Valley, this saw the tenor create the role of Steven Spurrier, the real-life wine expert who organized the historic 1976 blind tasting in Paris, at which California wines first stormed the global stage. Of the opera’s first performance, led by conductor Kent Nagano, San Francisco Classical Voice writes: “Phan sang with his usual focused clarity. His diction and ease of delivery are wonders unto themselves. Everything is idiomatic with him, no matter what he’s singing.”
Nicholas Phan: 2026–27 engagements
Sep 23 & 26
Chicago, IL
Art Song Chicago
2026 Collaborative Works Festival: “Songs of the Earth”
(With Jasper String Quartet)
Oct 22
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Performances
“Fellow Citizens” recital (with Myra Huang, piano)
Shawn OKPEBHOLO: The Beautiful
Eric MALMQUIST: Fellow Citizens
Songs by SCHUBERT, DVOŘÁK, VAUGHAN WILLIAMS, BARTÓK, BERLIN, PRICE, CRAWFORD SEEGER, Errollyn WALLEN, and Mohammed FAIROUZ
Nov 13
Ann Arbor, MI
University of Michigan
University Musical Society
Ann Arbor Symphony / Earl Lee
MOZART: Requiem
Dec 5 & 6
Ann Arbor, MI
University of Michigan
University Musical Society
Ann Arbor Symphony / Scott Hanoian
HANDEL: Messiah
Dec 18–20
Houston, TX
Houston Symphony / Ken-David Masur
HANDEL: Messiah
Jan 17
Schenectady, NY
Capital Region Classical
“Fellow Citizens” recital (with Myra Huang, piano)
Shawn OKPEBHOLO: The Beautiful
Eric MALMQUIST: Fellow Citizens
Songs by SCHUBERT, DVOŘÁK, VAUGHAN WILLIAMS, BARTÓK, BERLIN, PRICE, CRAWFORD SEEGER, Errollyn WALLEN, and Mohammed FAIROUZ
Feb 4–10: tour with Il Pomo d’Oro / Maxim Emelyanychev
Feb 4 & 5: New York, NY (92nd Street Y)
Feb 7: Ann Arbor, MI (University of Michigan, University Musical Society)
Feb 10: Berkeley, CA (Cal Performances Berkeley)
PURCELL: Dido & Aeneas (Aeneas)
CARISSIMI: Jephte (Jephte)
March 4
New York, NY
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
“Sonic Spectrum III”
Shawn OKPEBHOLO: The Beautiful (New York City premiere; with Myra Huang, piano)
Eric MALMQUIST: Fellow Citizens (with Myra Huang, piano)
Nico MUHY: Stanger (with Viano Quartet)
March 13 & 14
Cincinnati, OH
Cincinnati Symphony / Cristian Măcelaru
BACH: St. Matthew Passion (Evangelist & arias)
March 20
Kalamazoo, MI
Kalamazoo Symphony / Julian Kuerti
BACH: St. Matthew Passion (Evangelist & arias)
March 26 & 27
Paris, France
Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France / Jaap van Zweden
BACH: St. Matthew Passion (Evangelist & arias)
April 9–11
San Francisco, CA
Philharmonia Baroque / Peter Whelan
HAYDN: The Creation
May 1
Washington, DC
Opera Lafayette / Patrick Dupré Quigley
“Metastasio’s La clemenza di Tito”: Arias by MOZART, GLÜCK, HASSE, and MYSLIVEČEK
May 4
New York, NY
Opera Lafayette / Patrick Dupré Quigley
“Metastasio’s La clemenza di Tito”: Arias by MOZART, GLUCK, HASSE, and MYSLIVEČEK
May 14–16
Kansas City, MO
Kansas City Symphony / Matthias Pintscher
BERNSTEIN: Songfest
June 22
New York, NY
Orchestra of St. Luke’s / Nicholas McGegan
Bach Festival (closing concert)
“BACH 52”