American baritone Eugene Chan is becoming one of the fastest rising stars of his generation. He garnered critical acclaim when he stepped in with less than 24 hours notice to sing Orff’s Carmina Burana at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Bramwell Tovey, in July 2008. The LA Times says “of the three vocal soloists, the baritone is the most important, and Eugene Chan had a big night. A 24-year-old in San Francisco Opera’s Merola training program, he sang with ardent Italianate warmth, if not quite the sardonic edge that Orff suggests.”

In the 2008-2009 season, Mr. Chan will perform Danilo (The Merry Widow) with Opera Santa Barbara, Schaunard (La bohème) with Opera Theatre of St. Louis, the title role in Eugene Onegin with the Seattle Opera Young Artists Program, debut’s with the San Francisco Symphony, conducted by Herbert Blomstedt, and Walt Disney Hall with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mr. Chan is also scheduled for a residency with the Steans Institute at the Ravinia Festival in addition to a National Residency under the auspices of the Marilyn Horne Foundation.
Most recent engagements during the 2007-2008 season included his San Francisco Opera debut as Prince Yamadori (Madama Butterfly), conducted by Donald Runnicles. He returned later in the season as Mr. Gedge (Albert Herring) as a member of their prestigious summer training program Merola. As a member of the Seattle Opera Young Artists Program, Mr. Chan performed Marco (Gianni Schicchi), L’Horloge Comtoise/ Le Chat (L’enfant et les sortilèges), Gasparo (Rita), and Baritone Trio (Trouble in Tahiti).

Past performance credits include Danilo (The Merry Widow) with West Bay Opera, Dancaïre/Morales (Carmen) with the San Francisco Opera Center & Sacramento Opera. He returned to Music Academy of the West in the summer of 2007 to perform Schaunard (La bohème). At Sacramento State University, where he received his Bachelor of Music degree, he was seen in the title role of Don Giovanni, Ottone (L’incoronazione di Poppea), and Papageno (Die Zauberflöte). He also created the role of Xi-men Qing in the world premiere of The Grand Seducers: Giovanni meets Xi-men Qing commissioned by the San Francisco Chinese Culture Center in the spring of 2006.

An avid recitalist, Mr. Chan made his Carnegie Hall recital debut at the age of 24 under the auspices of the Marilyn Horne Foundation in January 2008. He has been featured with orchestra in Orff’s Carmina Burana, the Fauré Requiem, Copland’s Old American Songs, the Brahms Requiem, Vaughn William’s Songs of Travel, and the West Coast Premiere of Rene Clausen’s Memorial. He was also featured as soloist in the PBS televised performance of the Charpentier Te Deum with the San Francisco Boys Chorus.

Mr. Chan has received numerous prizes and awards: 1st Place/Audience Choice in the Washington International Competition, both 2nd Place winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Western Region and 3rd Place Winner in the Northwest Region, 3rd Place winner in the Irene Dalis Vocal Competition, and 2nd Place winner in the NATS Artist Award Cal-Western Regional Finals. He was a national finalist in the Liederkranz and Houston Opera’s Eleanor McCollum Competitions and is the recipient of a Special Judges Award from the Sullivan Foundation and an Encouragement Award in the Marilyn Horne Foundation Competition.

Visit Mr. Chan’s website:  www.eugenechan.org