Nicholas Phan

Described by the Boston Globe as “one of the world’s most remarkable singers,” American tenor Nicholas Phan is increasingly recognized as an artist of distinction. With a diverse repertoire that spans nearly 500 years of music, he performs regularly with the world’s leading orchestras and opera companies. An avid recitalist and a passionate advocate for art song and vocal chamber music, in 2010 Phan co-founded Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago (CAIC), an organization devoted to promoting this underserved repertoire.

A celebrated recording artist, Phan’s most recent album, Stranger: Works for Tenor by Nico Muhly, was nominated for the 2023 Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Performance. His previous albums, Clairières and Gods and Monsters, were nominated for the same award in 2020 and 2017, respectively, and made him the first singer of Asian descent to be nominated in the history of the category, which has been awarded by the Recording Academy since 1959.

Phan is sought after as a curator and programmer. In addition to his work as artistic director of CAIC, Phan is the host and creator of a web series examining the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Bach 52, and he has created programs for broadcast on WFMT and WQXR. He has also served as guest curator for projects with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Merola Opera, the San Francisco Opera Center, and San Francisco Performances, where he served as the vocal artist-in-residence from 2014 to 2018. Phan’s programs often examine themes of identity, highlight unfairly underrepresented voices from history, and strive to underline the relevance of music from all periods to the currents of the present day.

‍