GRAMMY-WINNING TENOR & CURATOR NICHOLAS PHAN IN 2025-26

: Rome Opera debut, new albums, Art Song Chicago, & returns to New York Philharmonic, Kennedy Center, & Wigmore HalL

“One of the world’s most remarkable singers” (The Boston Globe), Grammy Award-winning tenor and curator Nicholas Phan continues to balance opera, concert, and recital appearances with curatorial projects in the 2025–26 season. Highlights include his Rome Opera debut in the Italian premiere of Adriana Mater, curatorial projects for Art Song Chicago and London’s Wigmore Hall, returns to the New York Philharmonic and Washington’s Kennedy Center, a live performance inspired by his ongoing BACH 52 web series at New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and two major new album releases.

Fall 2025: Art Song Chicago, Rome Opera debut, New York Philharmonic, & more

To kick off the season, Phan curates and performs in the 2025 Collaborative Works Festival, presented by Art Song Chicago, of which he is the Founder and Artistic Director. Now celebrating its 15th anniversary season, the organization (formerly known as Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago) continues to redefine the art song recital as a dynamic and socially engaged form. Featuring a diverse array of composers, including Gustav Mahler, Benjamin Britten, Nadia Boulanger, Nico Muhly, and Viet Cuong, this year’s festival addresses the theme of “Songs of War and Peace,” exploring the emotional and political landscapes shaped by conflict and reconciliation (Sep 4–6).

Next, Phan makes his Rome Opera debut in the starring role of Yonas in the Italian premiere of Kaija Saariaho’s opera Adriana Mater (Oct 9–16). The production reunites him with visionary director Peter Sellars and co-stars Fleur Barron, Axelle Fanyo, and Christopher Purves, as heard alongside Phan on his world premiere Deutsche Grammophon recording of the opera with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the San Francisco Symphony, winner of the 2025 Grammy Award for “Best Opera Recording.”

Phan has long championed the music of British composer Rebecca Clarke(1868–1979), increasingly recognized as “one of the very best of her time” (Gramophone). This fall, alongside mezzo-soprano Kitty Whately and pianist Anna Tilbrook at London’s Wigmore Hall, he co-leads a Rebecca Clarke Focus Day, consisting of four concerts commemorating the 100th anniversary of Clarke’s own sold-out viola recital at the venue (Nov 8). The event coincides with the release of Phan’s new recording of her complete vocal works, also in collaboration with Whately and Tilbrook (Nov 7; see below).

Back in the States, the tenor returns to the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, with pianist Myra Huang for his signature recital program “Fellow Citizens,” which delves into stories of immigration and migration through compositional voices ranging from Schubertand Dvořák to Errollyn Wallenand Mohammed Fairouz. Opening with “God Bless America,” Irving Berlin’s musical prayer of thanksgiving to the nation that gave him refuge as a child fleeing pogroms in Russia, “Fellow Citizens” reflects on two competing narratives about U.S. history: one that asserts that America is for Americans and another that celebrates the country as a nation of immigrants (Nov 23).

Reaffirming his status as one of today’s leading interpreters of the work, Phan completes his fall lineup with two seasonal engagements as a featured soloist in Handel’s Messiah. After singing the work with the Cincinnati Symphony and newly minted music director Cristian Măcelaru (Dec 5 & 6), he reprises it with the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Dame Jane Glover (Dec 10-13).

Spring 2026: dates in NYC, Philadelphia, Boston, New Mexico, San Francisco, & Madrid

Phan rings in the new year with chamber works by Louise Talma and Ralph Vaughan Williams at the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, where he is joined by Philippe Tondre, principal oboist of The Philadelphia Orchestra (Jan 21). Next, in a “Well-Being Concert” presented by Carnegie Hall at New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Phan explores themes of faith and spirituality through arias by Bach and Buxtehude. Performed with the Theotokos ensemble and conductor Doug Balliett, the program draws on the tenor’s acclaimed BACH 52 web series (Feb 26), which is also the inspiration for a recital of arias by Bach and his contemporaries with New Mexico’s Santa Fe Pro Musica (March 28 & 29).

With Boston’s Emmanuel Music chamber orchestra, Phan undertakes Hans Zender’s “composed reinterpretation” of Winterreise, which brings Schubert’s beloved song cycle into a bold new sonic world (March 22). He then reunites with Palaver Strings for a reprise of “A Change Is Gonna Come,” his celebration of song as a form of protest, at Noe Music in San Francisco (April 19). Featuring his world premiere recording of Errollyn Wallen’s song cycle Protest Songs, Phan’s Azteca recording of the program with the same ensemble was selected as a “Critics’ Choice 2024” best-of-the-year pick by Gramophone and scored the tenor his fourth Grammy nomination for “Best Classical Solo Vocal Album.” Phan rounds out his spring season with a performance of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s cantata Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast, a rarely heard masterwork of the choral tradition. Led by Mei-Ann Chen, the concert marks his debut with Spain’s Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid (May 5).

New albums: Rebecca Clarke & Lamenting Earth

Beyond the concert hall, the tenor expands his already distinguished discography with two new titles over the coming season. As noted above, November 7 marks the release on Signum Records of Rebecca Clarke – The Complete Songs, recorded in collaboration with mezzo-soprano Kitty Whately and pianist Anna Tilbrook, and featuring guest appearances by soprano Gweneth Ann Rand, baritone Roderick Williams, violinist Max Baillie, and members of the Seattle Chamber Music Society. As well as showcasing Clarke’s music in live performance, Phan is co-editing a five-volume edition of her previously unpublished vocal works for ClarNan Editions, an imprint of Classical Vocal Reprints.

Next, on April 17, Avie Records issues Lamenting Earth, recorded with the JasperString Quartet and Myra Huang. Exploring humanity’s continually evolving relationship with the environment, the album pairs works by Schubert, Vaughan Williams, Charles Ives, and Patrick Castillo with the title track by JUNO Award-winner Vivian Fung, which Phan premiered last year during a season-long residency at New York’s Kaufman Music Center.

Summer 2025 highlights

These engagements follow a full summer for Phan. He returns to California’s Music@Menlo as a featured artist and lecturer, leading the third lecture in the festival’s Jim and Mical Brenzel Encounter Series, with a focus on the evolution of the human voice in chamber music. At Tanglewood, he presents live iterations of his “BACH 52” project, offering performances and conversations centered on the contemporary relevance of Bach’s cantatas, and at Colorado’s Strings Music Festival, he joins Palaver Strings for “A Change Is Gonna Come.” Recorded with the London Symphony Orchestraunder Joseph Young, his rendition of Joel Puckett’s Walt Whitman setting, There Was a Child Went Forth, is due for release on Avie Records later this month.