Stranger is the world-premiere recording of Nico Muhly's song cycle commissioned by Grammy-nominated tenor Nicholas Phan.


Described by the Boston Globe as 'one of the world's most remarkable singers', American tenor Nicholas Phan is increasingly recognised as an artist of distinction. Performing an incredibly diverse repertoire that ranges from Claudio Monteverdi to Nico Muhly and beyond, Phan appears regularly with many of the leading orchestras and opera houses in the world. He has been presented in recital and chamber concerts by Carnegie Hall, London's Wigmore Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Atlanta's Spivey Hall, Boston's Celebrity Series, and the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. In 2010 he cofounded the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago (CAIC) to promote art song and vocal chamber music, where he serves as artistic director. In addition to his work as artistic director of CAIC, he also has curated programmes for broadcast on WQXR in New York and WFMT in Chicago, and served as guest curator for projects with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Merola Opera Program, Apollo's Fire, Laguna Beach Music Festival, and San Francisco Performances, where he served as the vocal artist-in-residence from 2014–2018. Phan's most recent album, Clairières, a recording of songs by Lili and Nadia Boulanger, was nominated for the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. His album, Gods and Monsters, was nominated for the same award in 2017. He is the first singer of Asian descent to be nominated in the history of the category, which has been awarded by the Recording Academy since 1959. Phan's previous albums for Avie – Illuminations, A Painted Tale, Still Fall the Rain, and Winter Words – have all made many 'Best of' lists, including those of The New York Times, New Yorker, Toronto Star, Chicago Tribune and Boston Globe.

Nico Muhly, born in 1981, is an American composer who writes orchestral music, works for the stage, chamber music and sacred music. He's received commissions from The Metropolitan Opera: Two Boys (2011) and Marnie (2018); Carnegie Hall, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, Wigmore Hall, the Tallis Scholars, King's College and St John's College, Cambridge, among others. He is a collaborative partner at the San Francisco Symphony and has been featured at the Barbican and the Philharmonie de Paris as composer, performer, and curator. An avid collaborator, he has worked with choreographers Benjamin Millepied at the Paris Opéra Ballet, Bobbi Jene Smith at the Juilliard School, Justin Peck and Kyle Abraham at New York City Ballet; artists Sufjan Stevens, The National, Teitur, Anohni, James Blake and Paul Simon. His work for film includes scores for for The Reader (2008) and Kill Your Darlings (2013), and the BBC adaptation of Howards End (2017). Among his concerti are works for violin, (Shrink, for Pekka Kuusisto), organ (Register, for James McVinnie), viola (Nadia Sirota), two pianos (In Certain Circles, for Katia and Marielle Labeque) and his vocal collaborators include Iestyn Davies, Renée Fleming, and Nicholas Phan. He has collaborated with visual artists Maira Kalman and Oliver Beer, and has created site-specific pieces for the National Gallery, London, and the Art Institute of Chicago, and written articles for the Guardian, the New York Times, and the London Review of Books. Recordings of his works have been released by Decca and Nonesuch, and he is part of the artist-run record label Bedroom Community, which released his first two albums, Speaks Volumes (2006) and Mothertongue (2008).

Critical acclaim for Nicholas Phan:

"It's hard to imagine these Boulanger songs could have more convincing advocacy." – The Guardian (on Clairières, AV2414)

"one of the most beautiful young lyric voices around" – Opera News

"Phan's singing is both sultry and refined" – WQXR- NYC (on Illuminations, AV2382)

"Phan's sheer sensitivity is a delight. An absorbing disc and an ideal introduction to the joys of lieder." – TheArtsDesk.com (on Gods & Monsters, AV2368)