女高音聲樂家陳麗嬋

    生於台灣台中市. 國立台灣師範大學音樂系畢業, 紐約曼哈頓音樂院聲樂演唱碩士。1984甄選入舊金山歌劇院的Merola Opera Program, 之後獲選為該劇院young artist program的Adler Fellow兩年 (1985-1987)，得與世界聞名的聲樂家同台演出，包括Kiri Te Kanawa、Samuel Remy等。麗嬋先後得多位大師級演唱家的指導，其中包括Gerard Souzay，Mirella Freni及Alfredo Kraus。1990年得巴黎國際聲樂大賽女聲組第二獎。            
   麗嬋於1985-1995在歐美從事全職歌劇演唱。曾參輿演出的歌劇院包括San Francisco Opera, Michigan Opera, Hawaii Opera, Plalztheater Kaiserslautern, Stadttheater Gelsenkirchen， Stadttheater St. Gallen等。在二十餘部西洋歌劇中擔任女主角，包括Falstaff, Le Nozze di Figaro, L’elisir d’amor, Don Pasquale,  Die Zauber Floete,  Ariodante, The Tales of Hoffman 等。麗嬋在臺灣也前後輿臺北歌劇劇場，臺北市立交響樂團, 國立台灣交響樂團, 臺北YMCA交響樂團合作演出。擔任的歌劇女主角有《魔笛》中的Pamina，《浮士德》中的Marguerite，《波西米亜人》中的Musetta, 《魔彈射手中》的Annchen, 《巴斯瓜先生》中的Norina, 《弄臣》中的Gilda，《斷頭臺上的修女》中的Blanche以及《熱碧亞》，《原野》，《西施》等中國歌劇中的女主角。她並受前李登輝總統之邀，參與第六屆總統府音樂會歌劇選粹的演出。

除了演唱歌劇，麗嬋也活躍於音樂會中。曾於韓德爾的《彌賽亞》，巴哈的《約翰受難曲》，《B小調彌撒》，《聖誕神曲》，《Magnificat》，莫劄特的《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》等大型聖樂曲中擔任女高音獨唱。 此外，不管在歐洲，美國或臺灣，她在每次音樂會必演唱台語民謠和兿術歌曲，以表達她對母語及臺灣的至愛。

    麗嬋除了演唱也熱愛聲樂教學，曾任教於臺北華岡藝術學校、臺北浸信會神學院。自2002年於Rutgers State University-Newark教授聲樂。她是美國聲樂教師協會及美國指揮家協會會員,並曾任新澤西卅音樂教師協會聲樂組負責人(2011-2015)。她也是中華基督教聖樂崇拜學院的teaching artist, 常為教會詩班和指揮作聲樂研習營。

麗嬋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。她是中華基督教聖樂崇拜學院所錄製的中文 “彌賽亜” 中的女高音獨唱。她的生平屢歷被收錄在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。

Li-Chan Chen-Maxham 

Described by the San Francisco Examiner as a ”lyric Soprano with beauty and intelligence”, Ms. Chen-Maxham has enjoyed performing on the opera and concert stages around the world. Ms. 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 and Antonia.  She also made guest appearances at the Stadttheater Gelsenkirchen, Germany and Stadttheater St. Gallen , Switzerland. As an Adler Fellow with the San Francisco Opera, she performed with the company in the Marriage of Figaro, Jenufa, Manon and Der Rosenkavalier. Li-Chan sang Monica in The Medium on the main stage opposite the late Regine Crespin and sang Nannetta and Siebel in the company’s Family Circle performances of Falstaff and Faust. 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 Li 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 (World premiere, in Chinese), Don Pasquale, The Savage Land (in Chinese), Rigoletto, Xi-Shi (World premiere, in Chinese), Dialogues des Carmelites. She has long 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 frequently 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. 

Review excerpts around the world:

“Li-Chan Chen (Nannetta) proved you can be physically attractive and still sing with musical magic.”
                            …The Opera News

“…as Juliet…testified to the radiant urgency of her lyric instrument and to her intelligent projection of the French text.”                                 …Examiner, San Francisco

“The Pamina of Li-Chan Chen encompassed every possible scope of emotion and expression, ranging from humble sincerity to utter despair.”
                                  …Rheinpfalz Zeitung, Germany

“Chen’s Susanna was evenly and elegantly sung and her acting fluent and agile.”
                                                …Opernwelt