Tenor Nicholas Phan to Perform in Portland, New York, Chicago, and More, Summer & Fall 2013
By: Devin MacDonald Jun. 25, 2013
As "a major new Britten interpreter" (New York Times) with two hit Britten albums to his name, tenor Nicholas Phan is set to be a prime mover in this year's celebrations of the English composer's centennial.
Summer sees Phan undertake the SERENADE FOR TENOR, HORNS AND STRINGS at Portland's Chamber Music Northwest (July 22 & 23) and, with Eric Jacobsen and The Knights, at a Naumburg Orchestral Concert in New York's Central Park (July 30) and the Ravinia Festival (Sep 3). While at Ravinia, Phan also stars as Nebuchadnezzar in THE BURNING FIERY FURNACE with Chicago Symphony soloists led by James Conlon (Aug 17). He features Canticle I on a recital with Idaho's Sun Valley Summer Symphony (July 28) and at the Oregon Bach Festival (July 1), where he also sings "Now, the Great Bear" from Peter Grimes (July 2).
The tenor's focus on Britten shows no sign of abating in the fall. In September, besides performing at what the New York Timescalls "Trinity Wall Street's ambitious Britten festival," he will preside over the 2013 Collaborative Works Festival, "The Heart of the Matter: 100 Years of Benjamin Britten." On a five-stop U.S. tour and again in Istanbul, Phan and pianist Myra Huang will perform a Britten/Schubert recital program inspired by their second Avie Records album, STILL FALLS THE RAIN- named one of the "Best of 2012" by the New York Times. Late fall brings reprises of the SERENADE with two Canadian orchestras - the Torontoand Kitchener-Waterloo Symphonies - and the tenor's first appearances in the WAR REQUIEM, with Marin Alsop leading the Baltimore Symphony. As Phan explained to Stuart Isacoff in a "Masterpiece" feature about the WAR REQUIEM in the Wall Street Journal, "I don't think there is any other composer who set the English language better to music. He has the ability to lift the words off the page. He almost makes the poetry shine in a better light than when it is spoken."
In the meantime, Phan's other summer highlights include the world premiere of a new commission from Ray Lustig at theChamber Music Festival of Lexington in Kentucky (Aug 25); Stravinsky's rarely-heard one-act opera MAVRA, with the American Symphony Orchestra at New York's Bard Music Festival (Aug 11); and three choral masterworks - Beethoven's MISSA SOLEMNIS and Bach's ST. JOHN PASSION and Mass in B minor - with legendary choral conductor Helmuth Rilling at the Oregon Bach Festival(June 28-July 14).
Phan was recently featured as the subject of an Opera News "Take Five" interview. A video clip of his responses to the five questions posed by the magazine is available here. The Connecticut-born, Michigan-raised tenor documents his journey as a musician in his blog, grecchinois.blogspot.com. As Phan explains, "I sing. I travel. I am half Greek and half Chinese - thus, the blog's name, a combination of the two nationalities in French." Additional information about Nicholas Phan, including a complete biography, is available at the artist's website: www.nicholas-phan.com.
Nicholas Phan: upcoming engagements:
June 28
Eugene, OR
Silva Concert Hall
Oregon Bach Festival / Helmuth Rilling
Beethoven: Missa solemnis
July 1
Eugene, OR
Beall Concert Hall
Oregon Bach Festival
Britten: Canticle I: My Beloved is Mine
July 1, 3, 5 & 8
Eugene, OR
Soreng Theater
Oregon Bach Festival / Helmuth Rilling
Bach: St. John Passion (Discovery Series)
July 2
Eugene, OR
Silva Concert Hall
Oregon Bach Festival / Matthew Halls
Britten: "Now, the Great Bear" from Peter Grimes
July 6
Eugene, OR
Silva Concert Hall
Oregon Bach Festival / Matthew Halls
Mendelssohn: Psalm 95: Kommt, lasst uns anbeten, Op. 46
July 10
Eugene, OR
Silva Concert Hall
Oregon Bach Festival / Helmuth Rilling
Bach: St. John Passion
July 12
Portland, OR
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Oregon Bach Festival / Helmuth Rilling
Bach: Mass in B minor
July 14
Eugene, OR
Silva Concert Hall
Oregon Bach Festival / Helmuth Rilling
Bach: Mass in B minor
July 18
Portland, OR
Kaul Auditorium
Chamber Music Northwest
Britten: selected songs
Mendelssohn: selected songs
July 22
Portland, OR
Kaul Auditorium
Chamber Music Northwest
Britten: Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings
July 23
Portland, OR
Catlin Gabel School
Chamber Music Northwest
Britten: Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings
July 28
Sun Valley, ID
Sun Valley Summer Symphony
Bach: "Ich traue seiner Gnaden" from Cantata 97
Britten: Canticle I: My Beloved is Mine
Handel: "Descend, Kind Pity" from Theodora
July 30
New York, NY
Central Park
The Knights / Eric Jacobsen
Britten: Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings
Aug 11
Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
Bard Music Festival
American Symphony Orchestra / Leon Botstein
Stravinsky: Mavra (The Hussar)
Aug 17
Highland Park, IL
Trinity Episcopal Church
Ravinia Festival
Soloists from the Chicago Symphony / James Conlon
Britten: The Burning Fiery Furnace (Nebuchadnezzar)
Aug 23
Lexington, KY
Fasig-Tipton Pavilion
Chamber Music Festival of Lexington
Vaughan Williams: Merciless Beauty
Vaughan Williams: On Wenlock Edge
Aug 24
Lexington, KY
Fasig-Tipton Pavilion
Chamber Music Festival of Lexington
Schubert: selections from Schwanengesang
R. Lustig: World Premiere Commission
Aug 25
Lexington, KY
Fasig-Tipton Pavilion
Chamber Music Festival of Lexington
Schubert: selections from Schwanengesang
Sep 3
Highland Park, IL
Martin Theater
Ravinia Festival
The Knights / Eric Jacobsen
Britten: Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings
Sep 5
New York, NY
Trinity Wall Street
Novus NY / Julian Wachner
Britten: Nocturne
Sep 11
Chicago, IL
Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago
Collaborative Works Festival
Britten: The Heart of the Matter
Sep 12
Chicago, IL
Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago
Collaborative Works Festival
Britten: Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac
Sep 15
Chicago, IL
Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago
Collaborative Works Festival
Beethoven: selected Folk Song arrangements
Sep 21
New York, NY
Trinity Wall Street
Britten/Schubert Still Falls the Rain recital
with Jennifer Montone, horn; Myra Huang, piano; Sivan Magen, harp
Oct 18
Chicago, IL
Mandel Hall
University of Chicago Presents
Britten/Schubert Still Falls the Rain recital
with Gail Williams, horn; Myra Huang, piano; Sivan Magen, harp
Oct 19
Kalamazoo, MI
Dalton Center
Fontana Chamber Arts
Britten/Schubert Still Falls the Rain recital
with Gail Williams, horn and Myra Huang, piano
Oct 23
Istanbul, Turkey
CCR Concert Hall
Britten/Schubert Still Falls the Rain recital
with Myra Huang, piano
Oct 31-Nov 2
Toronto, Canada
Roy Thomson Hall
Toronto Symphony Orchestra / Peter Oundjian
Britten: Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings
Orff: Carmina Burana
Nov 9
Atlanta, GA
Spivey Hall
Spivey Hall Concert Series
Britten/Schubert Still Falls the Rain recital
with Myra Huang, piano
Nov 15 & 16
Baltimore, MD
Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
Baltimore Symphony / Marin Alsop
Britten: War Requiem
Nov 17
Bethesda, MD
Music Center at Strathmore
Baltimore Symphony / Marin Alsop
Britten: War Requiem
Nov 22 & 23
Charlotte, NC
Belk Theater
Charlotte Symphony / Scott Allen Jarrett
Bach: St. Matthew Passion (Evangelist)
Nov 29 & 30
Waterloo, Canada
The Center in the Square Theater
Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony / Edwin Outwater
Britten: Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings
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