Literary Soundscapes

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. Praised for his keen intelligence, captivating stage presence and natural musicianship, he performs regularly with the world’s leading orchestras and opera companies. Also an avid recitalist, in 2010 he co-founded the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago (CAIC) to promote art song and vocal chamber music, where he serves as artistic director.

A celebrated recording artist, Phan’s album, Clairières, a recording of songs by Lili and Nadia Boulanger, was nominated for the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. His album, Gods and Monsters, was nominated for the same award in 2017. He is 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. His other previous solo albums Illuminations, A Painted Tale, Still Fall the Rain and Winter Words, made many “best of” lists, including those of the New York Times, New Yorker, Chicago Tribune, WQXR, and Boston Globe. Phan’s growing discography also includes a Grammy-nominated recording of Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with Pierre Boulez and the Chicago Symphony, Berlioz’ Roméo et Juliette with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony, Scarlatti’s La gloria di primavera and Handel’s Joseph and his Brethren with Philharmonia Baroque, an album of Bach’s secular cantatas with Masaaki Suzuki and Bach Collegium Japan, Bach’s St. John Passion (in which he sings both the Evangelist and the tenor arias) with Apollo’s Fire, and the world premiere recordings of two orchestral song cycles: The Old Burying Ground by Evan Chambers and Elliott Carter’s A Sunbeam’s Architecture.

Phan has appeared with many of the leading orchestras in the North America and Europe, including the Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Philharmonia Baroque, Boston Baroque, Les Violons du Roy, BBC Symphony, English Chamber Orchestra, Strasbourg Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra of London, and the Lucerne Symphony. He has toured extensively throughout the major concert halls of Europe and has appeared with the Oregon Bach, Ravinia, Marlboro, Edinburgh, Rheingau, Saint-Denis, and Tanglewood festivals, as well as the BBC Proms. Among the conductors he has worked with are Marin Alsop, Harry Bicket, Herbert Blomstedt, Pierre Boulez, Karina Canellakis, James Conlon, Alan Curtis, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Charles Dutoit, James Gaffigan, Alan Gilbert, Jane Glover, Matthew Halls, Manfred Honeck, Bernard Labadie, Louis Langrée, Cristian Măcelaru, Nicholas McGegan, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, John Nelson, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Helmuth Rilling, David Robertson, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Masaaki Suzuki, Michael Tilson Thomas, Bramwell Tovey and Franz Welser-Möst.

An avid proponent of vocal chamber music, he has collaborated with many chamber musicians, including pianists Mitsuko Uchida, Richard Goode, Jeremy Denk, Graham Johnson, Lisa Kaplan, Roger Vignoles, Orion Weiss, Inon Barnatan, Myra Huang and Alessio Bax; violinist James Ehnes and Tai Murray; cellist Paul Watkins; guitarist Eliot Fisk; harpist Sivan Magen; the Brooklyn Rider, Jasper, and Spektral string quartets; and horn players Jennifer Montone, Radovan Vlatkovic, and Gail Williams. In both recital and chamber concerts, he has been presented by Carnegie Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Atlanta’s Spivey Hall, Boston’s Celebrity Series, Aspen Music Festival, and the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. In addition to his work as artistic director of CAIC, he also has served as guest curator for projects with the Bravo! Vail Music Festival, Laguna Beach Music Festival, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Merola Opera program, WQXR, and San Francisco Performances, where he served as the vocal artist-in-residence from 2014-2018.

Phan’s many opera credits include appearances with the Los Angeles Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Glimmerglass Festival, Chicago Opera Theater, Seattle Opera, Portland Opera, Glyndebourne Opera, Maggio Musicale in Florence, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, and Frankfurt Opera. His growing repertoire includes the title roles in Bernstein’s Candide, Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex and Handel’s Acis and Galatea, Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore, Fenton in Falstaff, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, and Lurcanio in Ariodante.

A graduate of the University of Michigan, Phan is the 2012 recipient of the Paul C Boylan Distinguished Alumni Award and the 2018 Christopher Kendall 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. He was the recipient of a 2006 Sullivan Foundation Award and 2004 Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation.

BIO In a career spanning some four decades, vocalist Clairdee has performed around the world as an internationally touring artist who's collaborated with some of America's most celebrated jazz masters, including Dick Hyman, Bucky Pizzarelli, Houston Person, Cyrus Chestnut, Russell Malone, and Ken Peplowski. Deeply informed by the music's departed masters, Clairdee puts a personal stamp on whatever she sings, a gift aptly described by the inimitable Nancy Wilson, who declared that "in the tradition of all great vocalists she infuses each song with her own unique style while always remaining true to the song itself." Equally at home singing various idioms in an array of settings, she works with symphony orchestras, big bands, small jazz combos, intimate duos, and leads her own world-class band. Clairdee’s discography as leader includes four highly regarded albums on her Declare Music label. “A Love Letter to Lena,” garnered international press and was acknowledged in three categories in the 2020 Grammy® first round nominations. A 2018 recipient of the Bay Area Jazz & Blues Artist Lifetime Achievement Award, Clairdee is a passionate mentor and advocate for music education having served as a Professor of Jazz Voice at San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a Teaching Artist for SFJAZZ and San Francisco Symphony. She sits on the Board Directors for Jazz in the Neighborhood and is a member of the Independent Musicians Alliance

Mezzo-soprano, Olivia Johnson has been recognized by Opera News as a “standout... commanding and reassuring, with the timbre of a contralto and the astounding upper extension of a dramatic mezzo” for her portrayal of Girlfriend 3 in Jeanine Tesori and Tazewell Thompson’s opera, Blue, in production with Detroit Opera (2021-2022). In the very beginning of this season, Ms. Johnson had the privilege to debut at The Metropolitan Opera as an Alto I soloist in X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X by Anthony Davis. This season, Ms. Johnson is also honored to be a recipient of the Bagby Foundation Career Grant. The grant is awarded to support emerging artists that show great promise within the music industry. This past summer, she was featured as a Gerdine Young Artist in Opera Theatre of Saint Louis’ Summer Festival 2023. Nearing the end of the festival, Ms. Johnson had the most exhilarating evening where she stepped in as the cover of Monisha making her debut in Damien Sneed and Karen Chilton’s reimagined opera of Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha. Wall Street Journal noted that “Olivia Johnson … delivered with aplomb the aria in which Treemonisha’s mother recounts her daughter’s origins”. While at OTSL, she also covered the malicious smalltown bully, Mrs. McLean in Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah and was featured in OTSL’s Center Stage with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra singing Pauline in the Pique Dame Duet, Charlotte in Sondheim’s “A Weekend in the Country” and Larina in the Act II Finale of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. Prior to this summer’s festival, Ms. Johnson had participated in OTSL’s New Works Collective workshop in December of 2022 and returned in March of this year to perform leading roles in two of the three original 20-minute operas. This included Sister in Madison Lodge by Tre’von Griffith and Dr. Patricia E. Bath in Cook Shack by Del’Shawn Taylor and Samiya Bashir. Ms. Johnson was recognized for her performance in the New Works Collective by KDHX stating that “…Johnson was a strong, confident presence as Sister.” Prior to performing in the New Works Collective, Ms. Johnson was awarded an encouragement award earlier this year in the finals of the 2023 George and Nora London Foundation Competition in NYC. In the summer of 2022, she attended Chautauqua Opera where she covered the role of the Mother in Thumbprint (Kamala Sankaram) and performed the role of Gertrude Stein in the Mother of Us All. Before attending Chautauqua, she covered Ella and performed Alto I in the ensemble of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X (Anthony Davis) for the closing of Detroit Opera Theatre’s 2021-2022 season. Then again in October of 2022, Ms. Johnson covered Ella and performed in the ensemble for Opera Omaha. During the 2021-2022 season, Ms. Johnson had the greatest distinction to appear twice in recital alongside her former teacher, mentor and the legendary tenor, Professor George Shirley in Kerrytown Concert House’s recital series, Passing the Torch I and Passing the Torch II. Ms. Johnson and Professor Shirley participated in an in-depth interview to view the current industry of opera from the eyes of an emerging artist and a longtime veteran. The insightful Q&As were then followed by song cycles, spirituals and duets that inspired both mentor and mentee. In the summer of 2021, she had attended the Vocal Institute of Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, CA, where she received an Encouragement Award for the Marilyn Horne’s Art Song Competition. She had also made her debut spring of 2021 with the AEPEX Contemporary Ensemble as the soloist for Julia Perry’s Stabat Mater. As a result of that collaboration, Ms. Johnson had gone on to become the new Artist in Residence for AEPEX Contemporary Ensemble for their 2021-2022 season. Olivia Johnson is a former young artist of Toledo Opera in Toledo, Ohio where she performed in their Opera Outdoors and Opera on Wheels for their 2020-2021 season. In October 2020, Ms. Johnson appeared with Detroit Opera Theatre (DOT) as the second Rheinmaiden, Wellgunde, under the direction of Sharon Yuval in his re- imagining of Wagner’s Ring Cycle in the modern adaptation. She also appeared with Detroit Opera in the roles of La Ciesca (Gianni Schicchi and Buoso’s Ghost), and Girlfriend (Summer King). Ms. Johnson has also made other soloist appearances with White Snake Projects, Detroit Opera’s Touring Ensemble, Opera MODO, Rackham Choir, Opera NexGen, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Summer festivals include Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Chautauqua Opera, Music Academy of the West, Martina Arroyo’s Prelude to Performance and American Institute of Musical Studies (AIMS). Other roles include Dorabella (Così fan tutte), Gertrude (Roméo et Juliette), Mercédès (Carmen), Maurya (Riders to the Sea), Girlfriend 2 (Blue, Cover), Girlfriend 3 (Blue), Sister Mathilde (Dialogue of Carmélites), Conchetta (Night Trip). A native of North Carolina, Olivia Johnson began studying voice performance in 2010 at East Carolina University earning her Bachelor of the Arts degree graduating in 2014. Ms. Johnson then went on to complete her graduate studies at the University of Michigan earning her Master of Music under the tutelage of Professor George Shirley. She now studies with Jane Randolph. This season she looks forward to returning to Seattle Opera to make her official debut as Alto I in their ensemble for X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X. This coming summer she will be making her debut at the Vienna Opera Festival as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni by W.A. Mozart.

Poised and playful soprano Arianna Rodriguez has been praised by the San Francisco Chronicle as “crystalline” for her performance in Merola Opera Program’s 2022 Grand Finale concert. Her performance as Musetta in Opera North’s La bohème was described by the Eagle Times as a “a delight… a brilliant soprano delivering her wit with flair.” Currently a second-year Adler Fellow with San Francisco Opera, Rodriguez sang the role of Gianetta in L’elisir d’Amore, made her mainstage debut in Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten, and sang the role of Musetta in the company’s production of Bohème out of the Box. Leading cover roles at SFO include Chrisann Brennan in The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs and Julie in Rhiannon Giddens’ and Michael Abels’ Omar. Rodriguez in excerpts as the title role in Amadeo Vives’ Doña Francisquita in the Merola Opera Program’s Schwabacher Summer Concert, after joining her Merola colleagues in A Celebration of American Song curated by pianist Craig Terry. Other recent performances include Ask Your Mama, a multimedia work based on poetry by Langston Hughes and originally composed By Laura Karpman for Jessye Norman, and a staged production of Bernstein’s Mass under the baton of Marin Alsop. Other roles include Lauretta in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and as Krysia in Jake Heggie’s Two Remain. Of Guayanese and Puerto Rican heritage, Rodriguez was a District Winner and Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, was a finalist in the Giulio Gari International Vocal Competition, and received encouragement awards from the Vero Beach Opera Rising Star Vocal Competition and Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition.

Wendel Patrick is a professor, composer, producer, beatmaker, pianist, sonic architect, photographer, and videographer. He has been referred to as “David Foster Wallace reincarnated as a sound engineer” by Urbanite Magazine and as “wildly talented” by the Baltimore Sun. He has been referred to by XLR8R magazine as “a hip-hop producer that could easily make any fan of Squarepusher, Boards of Canada, or Madlib flip out.” The alter-ego of classical and jazz pianist Kevin Gift, Wendel Patrick has made a name for himself internationally as a music producer of remarkable vision, skill and talent. His five albums: Sound, Forthcoming, JDWP, Passage, and Travel were all produced without the use of sampling, with Patrick playing every note of every instrument. What is perhaps most astounding and perplexing to listeners is that there are actually no instruments...he crafts all of the instruments, and plays every note, electronically. Equally at home performing on stage with his band, behind two turntables, beatboxing, improvising, or playing a Mozart Concerto on stage with orchestra, Wendel Patrick has toured Europe on several occasions and performed throughout the world with renowned spoken word artist and poet Ursula Rucker (The Roots, 4 Hero). In 2014, Wendel Patrick traveled to Australia as a guest lecturer, speaking about music production and entrepreneurship in the arts at The Australian Institute of Music in both Sydney and Melbourne. In 2011, Wendel Patrick co- founded the Baltimore Boom Bap Society, with Erik Spangler (DJ Dubble8) that performs monthly improvised hip hop shows with hand picked musicians and emcees. The group’s collaborative performance with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra of Igor Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale was recently named “Best Mesmerizing Performance of 2016” by Baltimore Magazine. Wendel Patrick’s music has also been heard across the country on NPR stations, most notably on Out of the Blocks, an award winning radio documentary program he co-produces with radio producer Aaron Henkin for NPR affiliate WYPR that has been featured by the Third Coast International Audio Festival and Hearing Voices as well as on the BBC. Recent performances included a new collaboration between the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Baltimore Boom Bap Society, on which Patrick’s orchestral compositions were performed. An avid photographer and videographer, his photography has been exhibited in several art galleries including the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Ralph Arnold Gallery in Chicago. Patrick shoots all of the accompanying documentary photography and videography for Out of the Blocks . Wendel Patrick/Kevin Gift majored in both music and political science at Emory University and earned his M.M. in Piano Performance as a scholarship student at the Northwestern University School of Music in Evanston Illinois. Patrick is a winner of the 2015 Baker Artist Awards’ Mary Sawyers Baker grand prize and was a member of the faculty at Loyola University in Baltimore, Maryland from 2001 to 2013 teaching piano, introduction to music theory, music history and electronic music production. He has taught at the Maryland Institute College of Art and at Loyola University Chicago where he was Department of Fine and Performing Arts Guest Artist- in-Residence for 2019. In 2022, he was named Renaissance Man of the Year at the Baltimore Crown Awards. Wendel Patrick is an Associate Professor in the Department of Music Engineering & Technology at The Peabody Music Conservatory - Johns Hopkins University where he teaches “Hip Hop Music Production: History and Practice”, the first course of its kind to be taught at a major traditional music conservatory anywhere in the United States. He is the host of “Artworks” on Maryland Public Television/PBS and was chosen as a Nasir Jones Hip Hop Fellow at the Hip Hop Archive and Research Institute at Harvard University for 2021-2022. Currently Wendel Patrick is a visiting non-resident Fellow at Harvard University's Hutchins Center for African and African American Research.