Biographies:

Pianist • Educator • Actor • Poet

MIKE FAN is an engaging and versatile Chinese-Canadian opera singer based in Montréal, Québec. Mike has trained in Italy and performed in Canada, Australia, and the United States. Mike has portrayed nobility, criminals, and even Carmen in drag!

Mike’s operatic roles range from Cinderella’s beleaguered father Pandolfe in Massenet’s Cendrillon to the drifter Top navigating the American Depression in Copland’s The Tender Land. Mike has performed with the KW & Guelph Symphony Orchestras, Halifax Summer Opera, Vera Causa Opera, and Opera NUOVA.

Beyond opera, Mike also performs musical theatre, oratorio, art song, and jazz including numerous world premieres. Concerts include “Leaving Home” - music of émigré composers ranging from Baroque to jazz standards, all-Italian repertoire for the Concerti Fulmini series presented by the Canadian Italian Heritage Foundation, and art songs for the Eden Mills Arts Festival. Mike has trained in masterclasses with Sondra Radvanovsky, Ernesto Palacio, Russell Braun, Victor Martens, Tharanga Goonetilleke, and other renowned mentors and pedagogues. Mike created and hosted Opera@Guelph from 2013-2015, a monthly opera series at the University of Guelph which presented 11 operas in 5 languages. An avid linguist, Mike performs in nine languages spanning five centuries with a special interest in Slavic repertoire. Mike is also in demand as a pianist and actor in theatre and film.

In addition to Mike’s multi-faceted performances, he is an educator of piano, voice, and music theory in addition to science, math, and languages. Mike holds two Honours Bachelor’s degrees in both Biomedical Science with Distinction (BScH, Guelph) and Voice Performance with High Distinction and Double Minors in Italian and German Studies (HBMus, Laurier). Mike also holds two ARCT diplomas from the Royal Conservatory in both Voice and Piano Performance. Mike’s further international training includes the Rossini’s Opera Festival as uditore all’Accademia Rossiniana Alberto Zedda in Pesaro, Italy, and Dr. Michael Warren’s Voice Intensive in New York City, USA. Mike speaks fluent English, Mandarin Chinese, French with proficiency in Italian, German, and Spanish. Mike is currently completing a Masters in Music in Voice and Opera Performance from the Schulich School of Music under the tutelage of dramatic tenor John Mac Master, fully funded with McGill’s Graduate Excellence and Shapiro Opera Fellowships.

Education:

• MMus ~ Masters in Music, Opera & Voice Performance (McGill University: Schulich School of Music, 2021)
• ARCT ~ Speech Arts Performance (Royal Conservatory of Music, 2021)
• HBMus ~ Honours Bachelor’s in Music (Voice Performance) with High Distinction, Double Minors in Italian & German (Sir Wilfrid Laurier University, 2019)
• ARCT ~ Voice Performance (Royal Conservatory of Music, 2015)
• BScH ~ Honours Bachelor’s in Biomedical Science with Distinction (University of Guelph, 2014)
• OSSD ~ Ontario Scholar (Centennial Collegiate and Vocational Institute, 2010)
• ARCT ~ Piano Performance (Royal Conservatory of Music, 2009)