Vania Chan

Vania Lizbeth Chan is a versatile artist, active in the fields of vocal performance, academia and education. She enjoys collaborating with fellow artists to create new and exciting projects that inspire and reach out to a wide ranging audience.

Vania received her Master of Music degree at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. During the pandemic year of 2020, she successfully defended her doctoral dissertation, “Mindful Singing: Exploring Mindfulness and Self-Regulation in Classical Singing,” and officially graduated with a PhD in Music from York University.

She sings in a variety of styles, performing opera, operetta, early music, musical theatre, oratorio, sacred, jazz and popular music.

A lyric coloratura soprano, Vania’s voice has been described as “gently shimmering” (Opera News, NY), “lovely and agile” (Karas Reviews), with “birdlike coloratura” (opera ramblings). She has been praised for her fine acting skills, acclaimed as a “first-rate comedienne” (Halifax Chronicle Herald).

Vania has performed with several prominent performance companies, ensembles and music festivals. In Canada, she has performed with Toronto Operetta Theatre, Voicebox: Opera in Concert, Soundstreams, the Toronto Consort, Confluence Concerts, City Opera Vancouver, among many others.

While living in New York City, she performed with several companies in the United States. She was also featured in Early Music America’s Emerging Artists Showcase performing “Handel’s Heroines,” a program of opera arias by Handel, with Rezonance Baroque Ensemble in Bloomington, Indiana.

Her most recent trip to Europe was on a tour in 2022 with Soundstreams, travelling to England and Germany to perform the music of Canadian composer Claude Vivier.

Favourite career highlights include:

• Carnegie Hall Debut in Weill Recital Hall, claiming first prize in the Barry Alexander International Competition.
• Performing the role of Princess Sakura in an excerpt from The Scarlet Princess by Alexina Louie for the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards, broadcast on television (CBC broadcast)
• Filming an operatic D’Italiano Bread commercial, featured as the Woman with Garlic Breath in the “Romantic Dinner” scene.
• Celebrating Glenn Gould’s 90th Birthday Anniversary with the Glenn Gould Foundation at Koerner Hall, singing the music of British composer and child prodigy Alma Deutscher.
• Performing Mabel in the Pirates of Penzance, Cunegonde in Candide, and most recently Eurydice in Orpheus in the Underworld with Toronto Operetta Theatre.
• Working closely with Canadian composer Alice Ho, premiering roles in her operas, including The Light Moon in The Lesson of Da Ji with Toronto Masque Theatre and Wenli in Chinatown with City Opera Vancouver. Vania’s voice can be heard on Alice Ho’s recently released digital album “A Woman’s Voice.”
• Winning the City of Brandon Award (Eckhardt-Gramatté Vocal Competition, Brandon Manitoba) for Best Interpretation of the Commissioned Song Cycle “Involuntary Love Songs” by Jocelyn Morlock.

While continuing to perform, research and teach, Vania is excited to embark on new creative and collaborative projects. She is currently co-artistic director for the annual Asian Heritage Month Concert in Toronto, working with composers Chan Ka Nin and Alice Ho. She will also be joining a committee of established voice teachers in organizing and hosting the International Congress of Voice Teachers (ICVT) in 2025. Vania is establishing an internet presence through her YouTube channel Vania Chan Music, where she creatively engages with her artistic colleagues, and reaches out to a growing online audience. Website: www.vaniachan.com