Tenor Nicholas Phan follows two latest Grammy nods with two world premieres, Seattle Symphony & Hong Kong Philharmonic concerts, Lisbon debut, & more

(December 2024) — This winter, tenor Nicholas Phan – “an artist who must be heard” (NPR) – embarks on an ambitious performance schedule spanning three continents and almost four centuries of music. Highlights include the world premieres of two chamber works by Viet Cuong, concerts in Philadelphia and New York City with the East Coast Chamber Orchestra, collaborations with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and Seattle Symphony, and concerts with Hannu Lintu and the Gulbenkian Orchestra that mark the tenor’s Lisbon debut. This full lineup follows the announcement that Phan has just received Grammy nominations in two different categories – for Best Opera Recording and Best Classical Solo Vocal Album – giving him a total of five Grammy nods to date.

Grammy nominations for A Change is Gonna Come & Adriana Mater

Already recognized with three previous Grammy nominations, Phan received two more this season. Recorded for Azica with jazz vocalist Farayi Malek and the Palaver Stringsensemble, A Change is Gonna Come was nominated for “Best Classical Solo Vocal Album,” marking Phan’s fourth nomination in the category since 2018, when he became the first singer of Asian descent to be nominated in its 65-year history. The album examines song as a form of protest and features the tenor’s world premiere recording of Protest Songs, a song cycle commissioned from Errollyn Wallen, the UK’s Master of the King’s Music. Selecting the recording as one of its “Critics’ Choice 2024” best of the year picks, Gramophone magazine writes: “Phan is a fine protagonist, steering this provocative course between cantata and musical theater. His fervent, crystalline diction fuels the revolution.”

Phan was also recognized for his starring role on the world premiere recording of Kaija Saariaho’s Adriana Mater. A nominee for “Best Opera Recording,” the Deutsche Grammophon release captures the tenor’s live performance with the San Francisco Symphony and Esa-Pekka Salonen in Peter Sellars’s production last June. Phan sings the role of Yonas, a young adolescent who discovers the horrific story of his parentage and must decide whether to continue the cycle of violence that conceived him. The New York Times found Phan’s performance “agile, heldentenor-like,” while Opera Todaypraised the way he bought “striking artistic finesse to this very complex role.”

Two Viet Cuong world premieres

Phan returns to contemporary music next year with the world premiere performances of two new chamber works by Vietnamese American composer Viet Cuong, whose music has graced such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Kennedy Center. First the tenor joins Cleveland-based Baroque ensemble Les Délices in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Rocky River, OH for performances of a program pairing cantatas by French Baroque composer Michel Pignolet de Montéclair with Cuong’s A Moment’s Oblivion, a newly commissioned cantata based on a Chinese myth about a man whose family helps him recover his lost memory (Feb 22–24). Next, with the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra at its Houston home, Phan premieres a new song cycle in which Cuong relates the story of his family’s escape from Saigon. This shares a program with excerpts from Vivian Fung’s Lamenting Earth (March 27), a work Phan premiered in New York City this past June as part of his season-long residency at the Kaufman Music Center.

Lisbon debut, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, & more

After joining Philharmonia Baroque for Christoph Graupner’s cantata Reiner Geist at Stanford University’s Bing Concert Hall, and giving a series of Messiah performances with Boston’s Handel & Haydn Society and the Washington National Cathedral Choir, Phan rounds out the holiday season with accounts of Handel’s masterwork in Mozart’s arrangement at the Hong Kong Philharmonic, in concerts led by Hans-Christoph Rademann (Dec 20 & 21). Next, to launch the new year, the tenor reunites with his longtime piano partner, Myra Huang, for a U.S. recital tour that takes them to Eugene, OR; Exeter, NH; and Palm Beach, FL (Jan 25–Feb 6). Phan then makes his Lisbon debut with performances of Haydn’s Creation with the Gulbenkian Orchestra and Hannu Lintu (Feb 13 & 14), before returning to the States for a string of orchestral engagements. He tours Britten’s Les Illuminations to Philadelphia, New York City, and Portland, ME with the East Coast Chamber Orchestra (March 8–10); returns to the Pacific Symphony for Carmina Burana (Feb 27–March 2); takes part in Bach’s St. John Passion with Houston’s Mercury Chamber Orchestra (March 22); sings Bach cantatas with Berkeley’s Cantata Collective (May 25); and reprises The Creation with the Seattle Symphony and David Robertson (June 5–8).

Recent highlights

Earlier this fall, Phan headlined the season-opening concerts of both Bach Collegium San Diego and San Francisco Performances. In San Diego, he performed a live iteration of his “BACH 52” project, which originated as a web series exploring the relevance of Bach’s music to the world today. Pairing Bach arias with cantatas by the composer’s contemporaries Christoph Graupner and Dieterich Buxtehude, his live program offered a “stunning concert of solo Baroque vocal music” (San Diego Story). For San Francisco Performances’ 45th Anniversary Gala, Phan joined Jake Heggie, just named Musical America’s 2024 Composer of the Year, for a wide-ranging recital program at the Herbst Theater, celebrating the transformative power of music. As San Francisco Classical Voiceput it, “Phan can color his voice endlessly, and while there’s power when he wants it, he’s far more likely to lure you in with a thousand degrees of soft singing.”

Nicholas Phan: upcoming engagements

Dec 20 & 21
Hong Kong, HK
Hong Kong Philharmonic / Hans-Christoph Rademann
HANDEL (arr. MOZART): Messiah

Jan 24
Eugene, OR
Cascade Song Festival
Masterclass

Jan 25–Feb 6
Recital tour with Myra Huang, piano
Jan 25: Eugene, OR (Cascade Song Festival)
Feb 4: Exeter, NH (Phillips Exeter Academy)
Feb 6: Palm Beach, FL (Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach)
Program to include songs by SCHUBERT

Feb 13 & 14
Lisbon, Portugal (debut)
Gulbenkian Orchestra / Hannu Lintu
HAYDN: The Creation

Feb 22–24
Concerts with Les Délices / Debra Nagy
   Feb 22: Cleveland, OH
   Feb 23: Rocky River, OH
   Feb 24: Pittsburgh, PA (Chamber Music Pittsburgh)
MONTÉCLAIR: La Bergère
MONTÉCLAIR: Le Dépit généreux
Viet CUONG: A Moment’s Oblivion (world premiere)

Feb 27 & 28; March 1 & 2
Costa Mesa, CA
Pacific Symphony / Carl St. Clair
ORFF: Carmina Burana

March 8–10
Tour with East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO)
   March 8: Portland, ME (Portland Chamber Music Festival)
   March 9: Philadelphia, PA (Philadelphia Chamber Music Society)
   March 10: New York, NY (Advent Lutheran Church; “Music Mondays” series)
BRITTEN: Les Illuminations

March 22
Houston, TX
Mercury Chamber Orchestra / Antoine Plante
BACH: St. John Passion (Evangelist)

March 27
Houston, TX
River Oaks Chamber Orchestra
Viet CUONG: song cycle (world premiere)
Vivian FUNG: selections from Lamenting Earth

May 25
Berkeley, CA
Cantata Collective
BACH: Ich glaube, lieber Herr, hilf meinem Unglauben (BWV 109)
BACH: Ich habe meine Zuversicht (BWV 188)

June 5, 7, & 8
Seattle, WA
Seattle Symphony / David Robertson
HAYDN: The Creation