Li-Chan Chen-Maxham 陳麗嬋, Soprano
Soprano Li-Chan Chen was the leading soprano of the ensemble of the Pfalztheater in Kaiserslautern, Germany for six consecutive seasons. Her performing credits there include Pamina, Lauretta, Nannetta, Norina, Adina, Susanna, Eurydice, Oscar, Dalinda (Handel’s Ariodante), Valencienne. She also made guest appearances at the theaters in Gelsenkirchen, Germany and St. Gallen, Switzerland. As an Adler Fellow with the San Francisco Opera, she performed on the main stage with the company in the Marriage of Figaro, Jenufa, Manon, Der Rosenkavalier and sang leading parts in The Medium and Falstaff. Ms. Chen appeared in various leading roles with the Hawaii Opera Theater, the Michigan Opera Theater, the Dayton Opera Theater and the Center for Contemporary Opera in New York City. Ms. Chen’s concert performances as soprano soloist include Messiah, Gloria (Vivaldi), St. John’s Passion, B minor Mass, the Four Seasons (Haydn), Carmina Burana, Mahler Symphony No. 4, the Midsummer Night’s Dream (Mendelssohn), Stabat Mater (Pergolesi), Pauken Messe (Haydn) and Magnificat (John Rutter). She was the Second Prize winner of the female division of the International Concours de Chant de Paris.
Ms. Chen has performed extensively with the major orchestras of her native Taiwan, including the Taipei City Symphony Orchestra and the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra. Her operatic debut as Pamina in The Magic Flute with the Taipei Opera Theater was followed by appearances as Marguerite in Faust with the Taipei Music and Arts Festival. She has since maintained a strong relationship to her homeland, highlighted by an invitation in 1992 to sing for the President of Taiwan at the presidential palace in Taipei. Besides many concert appearances, she has sung leading roles in the following operas there: La Boheme, Der Freischutz, Re-Bi-Ya (in Chinese), Don Pasquale, The Savage Land (in Chinese), Rigoletto, Xi-Shi (in Chinese), Dialogues des Carmelites. She was cited as the sole representative of classical singer in the book “Representatives of the Twentieth Century Taiwan”. She has dedicated herself to promote Taiwanese folk songs and art songs.
After receiving her B.A degree from the National Taiwan Normal University, Ms. Chen completed her graduate study at the Manhattan School of Music. She was awarded a full scholarship to study in the summer festival of Ravel Academie, France under the tutelage of Thomas Grubb and the late French Baritone Gerard Souzay. Ms. Chen was a participant in San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program. She received valuable instructions from many wonderful voice teachers and master singers including Marlena Malas, Cynthia Hoffman, Ellen Faull, Evelyn Lear, Birgit Nilsson, Regine Crespin, Alfredo Kraus and Mirella Freni.
Ms. Chen speaks fluent German, English and her mother tongue of Taiwanese and Mandarin Chinese. She completed an intensive Italian course in the University for Foreigners in Siena, Italy. She is passionate in sharing the joy of singing through performing and teaching and has been a teaching artist for the Chinese Christian Church Music Institute of Worship conducting vocal workshops for church choirs in the US and Canada. She has been in the music faculty of Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey since 2002.
生於台灣台中市,國立台灣師範大學音樂系, 紐約曼哈頓音樂院聲乐演唱碩士。在聲樂及歌剧演唱上曾師事多位名师,包刮鄭秀玲、唐鎮、曾道雄,Dr. Jan Popper, Cynthia Hoffmann、Ellen Faull、Marlena Malas、Robert Thomas 等教授。也曾獲得全額獎學金赴法國Ravel Academie 的暑期音樂营隨Gerard Souzay 學習法文曲目。1990年得巴黎國際聲樂大賽女聲组第二獎。
幼年參加台中兒童少年合唱團八年之久,得到嚴格音樂基礎訓練,並奠定日後穩健的台風。1979年以大三學生身份在台北歌劇劇場製作的《魔笛》中擔任女主角Pamina; 接著並在台北藝術季中擔任古諾的歌劇《浮士德》中的女主角。赴美進修前後不斷地活躍於台灣樂壇, 在台中市及台南市的音樂藝術季中担任多齣歌劇中的女主角, 也受台北市立交响樂團, 國立台灣交響樂團, 台北YMCA交響樂團邀請演出。她曾主演的中文歌劇有馬思聰的《熱碧亞》(世界首演), 金湘的《原野》,黄輔堂的《西施》(世界首演)。曾受前李登輝總統之邀参與第六屆總統府音樂會。近年於國立台灣師範大學製作的浦朗克歌劇《斷頭台上的修女》中擔任女主角Blanche。
就讀曼哈頓音樂院期間,除了在歌劇中擔任要角,並獲選得名聲樂家Birgit Nilsson 指導。1984年甄考入舊金山歌劇院的暑期Merola Opera Program, 在該研習營接受嚴格專業水準的歌劇訓練,並於總決賽中得首獎之一。1985-1987獲以Adler Fellow的身分繼續在舊金山歌劇院深造兩年,與世界聞名的聲樂家同台演出,包括Kiri Te Kanawa、Samuel Remy等。先後並得大師級聲樂家Mirella Freni及Alfredo Kraus的指導。這期間並擔任《靈媒》及《法斯塔夫》中的女主角。爾後參與美國各地劇院的演出,包括密西根劇場、夏威夷劇場、紐約現代歌劇中心等。 1989-1995為德國Kaiserslautern的Pfalztheater劇院的駐院女高音獨唱家,並曾在Gelsenkirchen及瑞士的 St.Gallen做客席演出,也活躍於音樂會中。
陳女士除了於二十餘部西洋歌劇中擔任女主角, 並於韓德爾的《彌賽亞》、巴哈的《約翰受難曲》、《B小調彌撒》、《聖誕神曲》,《Magnificat》、莫札特的《冠冕彌撒》、海頓的《四季》、《Pauken Messe》、法朗克的《聖誕神曲》、奧爾夫的《布蘭詩歌》、馬勒《第四號交響曲》、培果雷西的《聖母哀歌》、金希文的《第四號交響曲》、《瞻望的年代》, John Rutter’s 《Magnificat》等大型聖乐曲中擔任女高音獨唱。她的演唱足迹遍及全美、法國、德國、瑞士、台灣。近年演唱會中並致力於台灣歌謠的推廣。她為蕭泰然教授所錄製的聲樂曲全集(包括台灣藝術歌曲CD一片及宗教歌曲CD一片) 深獲佳評。她的生平屢歷被收錄在下列兩本書中: 中國現代音樂家傳略 (續集) — 顏廷階編撰, 廿世紀台灣代表性人物 (二) –林衡哲主編。她的英文履歷也被集於美國的Marquis’ Who’s Who in America。
除了繼續琢磨表演藝術, 陳女士也致力於教授聲樂。她曾任教於台北華岡藝術學校、台北浸信會神學院。目前定居新澤西州, 是美國聲樂教師協会会員, 並是新澤西卅音樂教師協會聲樂組負責人。她也是中華基督教聖樂崇拜學院的教師, 常為教會詩班和指揮作聲樂研習營。自2002年於Rutgers State University-Newark of New Jersey教授聲樂。
For more bio-information, please click link in who’s who: 1104. Li-Chan Chen-Maxham
