Named one of National Public Radio’s Favorite New Artists of 2011, Nicholas Phan continues to distinguish himself as one of the most compelling young tenors appearing on the prestigious concert and opera stages of the world today.
 
This season, Mr. Phan appears in concert with the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Alabama Symphony, and the Lucerne Symphony. Other concert appearances this season include performances at Carnegie Hall, the National Arts Center in Ottawa, and the Washington National Cathedral. He also returns to the Portland Opera as Fenton in Falstaff and makes his debut at the Bolshoi in a concert performance of Handel’s Hercules.
 
Mr. Phan has appeared with many of the leading orchestras in the United States and Great Britain, including the BBC Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Les Violons du Roy, English Chamber Orchestra, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He has also toured extensively throughout Europe with Il Complesso Barocco and appeared with the Edinburgh, Ravinia, Rheingau, Saint-Denis and Marlboro music festivals, and at the BBC Proms. Among the conductors he has worked with are Harry Bicket, Pierre Boulez, James Conlon, Alan Curtis, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Jane Glover, Manfred Honeck, Bernard Labadie, Nicholas McGegan, Zubin Mehta, John Nelson, Helmuth Rilling, David Robertson, and Michael Tilson Thomas. In recital, he has been presented by Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and the University of Chicago.
 

An avid proponent of vocal chamber music, he has collaborated with pianists Mitsuko Uchida, Richard Goode, Jeremy Denk, Cecile Licad, and Principal Horn of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Jennifer Montone, among others. He is also the Artistic Director of the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago, a Chicago-based organization devoted to promoting the teaching, performance, and development of the vocal chamber music repertoire.
 
Also considered one of the rising young stars of the opera world, Mr. Phan recently made his debut with the Seattle Opera as Count Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia. Other recent opera performances have included his debuts at the Glyndebourne Opera and the Maggio Musicale in Florence, as well as appearances with the New York City Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Atlanta Opera, Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf, Chicago Opera Theater, Opéra de Lille, and Frankfurt Opera. His growing repertoire includes the title roles in Acis and Galatea and Candide, Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore, Fenton in Falstaff, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, and Lurcanio in Ariodante.
 
Mr. Phan’s first solo album, Winter Words, made many “Best of 2011” lists including those of the New York Times, The New Yorker, Time Out New York, Boston Globe and the Toronto Star. His growing discography includes the Grammy-nominated recording of Stravinksy’s Pulcinella, with Pierre Boulez and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; a recording of the opera, L’Olimpiade, with the Venice Baroque Orchestra; and his forthcoming second solo album, Still Falls the Rain, which will be released in the Fall 2012.
 
A graduate of the University of Michigan, Mr. Phan is the 2012 recipient of the Paul C Boylan Distinguished Alumni Award. He also studied at the Manhattan School of Music and the Aspen Music Festival and School, and is an alumnus of the Houston Grand Opera Studio and the Glimmerglass Opera Young American Artists Program. He was the recipient of a 2006 Sullivan Foundation Award and 2004 Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation.

Acclaimed by Opera News as being ‘among the top accompanists of her generation,’ and ‘a coloristic tour de force,’ pianist Myra Huang regularly performs in recitals and chamber music concerts around the world. Among the notable venues where she has performed are Carnegie Hall, the Supreme Court, the Metropolitan Museum, Teatro alla Scala and the Metropolitan Opera House.
 

Ms Huang has served on the music staffs of the Washington National Opera and New York City Opera. Among the conductors she has worked with are James Conlon, Riccardo Frizza, Marco Armiliato, Richard Hickox, Christopher Hogwood, Daniel Oren, Robert Spano, Patrick Summers and Xian Zhang. From 2006 until 2008, she was a member of the music staff at the Palau de les Arts in Valencia, Spain where she worked closely with the company’s artistic director, Lorin Maazel and director Zubin Mehta. She works regularly with Plácido Domingo for his competition Operalia, held at opera houses around the world such as Teatro alla Scala, Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, the Opera House of the National Grand Theatre in Beijing and Teatro Real in Madrid.

Of her recent discography, Winter Words with tenor Nicholas Phan was listed as as among the top classical recordings of 2011 in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Bay Area Reporter, Time Out magazine, and the New Yorker magazine.

Ms Huang has served as Head of Music at New York City Opera since the 2012–13 season.

Harpist, Sivan Magen, is the only Israeli to have ever won the prestigious International Harp Contest in Israel. A winner of the the Pro Musicis International Award, he is also the 2012 Award Winner of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust – the first harpist to have been awarded that honour. Recent performances include recital debuts in Carnegie’s Weill Hall and London’s Wigmore Hall and solo appearances in the US, South America, Europe and Israel including the world premiere of Haim Permont’s ‘Aviv’ concerto with the Israel Philharmonic.
 
A founding member of the Israeli Chamber Project, Mr Magen is an avid chamber musician and has appeared in Paris (Salle Gaveau), NY (Alice Tully Hall, the Metropolitan Museum, Bargemusic), with Musicians from Marlboro, and at the Marlboro, Kuhmo, Giverny and Jerusalem International Chamber Music festivals. The 2011–12 season marked the debut of his new trio with flautist Marina Piccinini and violist Kim Kashkashian.
 
He has recorded for the Koch, Avie and Azica labels, Israeli Radio and Television, New York’s WQXR, APM’s Performance Today and the French television channel Mezzo. His performance of Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro is featured on Marlboro’s 60th Anniversary CD.