Press
Quotes
"Of special mention is lyric coloratura soprano Vania Lizbeth Chan's voice that somehow manages to hold warmth and charm while soaring at stratospheric heights."
Cheryl Ockrant (The Whole Note)
“Venom of Love” - Virtual Recording (Leaf Music Digital, 2020)
“The singers were excellent. Soundstreams recruited four of Canada’s best: soprano Vania Chan, mezzo-soprano Andrea Ludwig, tenor Colin Ainsworth and bass-baritone Stephen Hegedus. Not only did they deftly navigate Lang’s treacherous vocal shoals, they also ably accompanied themselves on various percussion instruments.”
John Terauds (Toronto Star)
“The Little Match Girl” (Soundstreams, 2018)
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“The four singers were wonderful, particularly in the Lang, where Chan’s small barefoot presence was extremely touching, matched by a clear but delicate delivery throughout. Ludwig, Hegedus & Ainsworth all had their moments to shine, and all four were pressed into service as instrumentalists as well.”
Leslie Barcza (barczablog.com)
“The Little Match Girl (Soundstreams, 2018)
“Soprano Vania Lizbeth Chan does superb work as Cunegonde. She has a lovely and agile coloratura voice and gives us a perky and delightful Cunegonde. She has the tough but splendid aria “Glitter and be Gay” to conquer with its high notes and flourishes and she handles it with aplomb."
James Karas (@KarasReviews)
“Candide” (Toronto Operetta Theatre, 2018)
“Vania Lizbeth Chan sparkles as Cunegonde both in her fine acting and singing. “Glitter and be Gay” has become a coloratura showpiece but Chan does not sing it that way. Instead she acts all through the song and makes Cunegonde’s runs and staccato high notes into signs of Cunegonde’s pleasure with material riches even though she thinks she should worry about her loss of virtue. Not only does Chan toss of Cunegonde’s stratospheric notes with ease, but she reveals the aria as a masterpiece of high operatic comedy.”
Christopher Hoile (www.stage-door.com)
“Candide” (Toronto Operetta Theatre, 2018)
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“Frederic falls in love with Mabel, (soprano Vania Lizbeth Chan), the daughter of Major-General Stanley. The sweetly-voiced Chan was energetic, coquettish, lovable and just delightful. Hers was one of the best performances of the night.”
James Karas (@KarasReviews)
“The Pirates of Penzance”
(Toronto Operetta Theatre, 2016)
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“As Mabel, Vania Chan has a light coloratura soprano that hits all the runs that Sullivan throws her way with precision and panache…Chan gives a lovely account of “Poor wand’ring one”. To showcase Chan’s coloratura even more Silva-Marin has Mabel drawn to the stage apron by the sound of the flute where she first sings Sullivan’s imitation Donizetti, then an excerpt from the Mad Scene of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor (1835) followed by a stunning section of the Bell Song from Delibe’s Lakmé (1883) which won Chan tumultuous applause.”
Christopher Hoile (www.stage-door.com)
“The Pirates of Penzance”
(Toronto Operetta Theatre, 2016)
“The singing, as might be expected, is excellent across the board, with Chan’s performance as Mabel earning the longest applause of the evening. Mabel has some incredible vocal gymnastics, which Chan tackles with seeming ease, imbuing Mabel with a lot of blunt gumption and an unstoppable willingness to roll with the punches. You can see her bursting to confess her love to Frederic before he’s halfway through his song, and she comes across as a take-chare gal used to getting what she wants. Her chemistry with Ainsworth, who plays Frederic with youthful sincerity, is sweet and engaging.”
Lin Young (Mooney on Theatre)
“The Pirates of Penzance”
(Toronto Operetta Theatre, 2016)
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“Vania Chan, playing the winsome Princess Mi…gives the best over-all performance of the evening, sweetly sung and dramatically convincing.”
Richard Ouzounian (Toronto Star)
“The Land of Smiles
(Toronto Operetta, Theatre, 2016)
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“I saw Ms. Chan and she was thoroughly delightful. She has a lovely light soprano and is a very fine actor. Often directors suggest that Gustl transfers his affection for Lisa to Mi once he meets her in China. Silva-Marin does not do this. As a result this gives Mi greater depth. When Chan’s Mi realizes that Gustl is not in love with but is still in love with Lisa, she makes us keenly fee Mi’s utter embarrassment and sorrow. The song “On the Pai-Ho” (“Willst du nicht das Märchen sehen”) is meant to lighten the mood after this revelation, but here Chan sings the cheery song not as a change of mood, but as if Mi is trying to cover up the sadness while in Gustl’s presence. I’ve never seen this interpretation before but Chan makes it work brilliantly and it suits the overall theme of “Immer nur lächeln”.
Christopher Hoile (www.stage-door.com)
“The Land of Smiles”
(Toronto Operetta, Theatre, 2016)
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“Vania Chan’s performance as Moon 1 is perhaps the best of the entire recording. Her beautiful coloratura voice is enchanting.”
Joe Argentino, Memorial University (CAML Review)
“The Lesson of Da Ji” CD recording (August 2016)
“The moon sings back to Da Ji, taking the form of both Light Moon, the gently shimmering coloratura of Vania Chan, and Dark Moon, the oddly compelling high-pitched speech-song of William Lau, a Peking opera performer. Chan also sings the role of Da Ji’s maid Ming, who is sweet and seemingly guileless until she betrays the lovers.”
Joshua Rosenblum (Opera News, published by the Metropolitan Opera Guild, NY)
“The Lesson of Da Ji” CD recording, Critic’s Choice review (May 2016)
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“The performances did the work full justice. Graham Thomson was terrific as the tortured scholar and Vania Chan was both convincing and very musical in negotiating some tricky music.
John Gilks (operaramblings.blog)
“Airline Icarus” (Soundstreams, 2014)
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“The quartet of three shepherds and one shepherdess – Alexander Dobson, Derek Kwan, Timothy Wong and Vania Chan – beautifully sand their madrigal-like reflections.”
Christopher Hoile (www.stage-door.com)
“Venus and Adonis” – Lessons of Love
(Toronto Masque Theatre, 2013)
“Using the stylized falsetto declamation style of a virtuous qingyi role, [William] Lau is one of two actors who plays the Moon, who visits Da Ji in a dream and warns her of pride in believing humans can outwit fate. The only character to sing in Chinese, he is accompanied by Vania Chan, who translates Lau’s warnings into English in her vivacious coloratura.”
Christopher Hoile (www.stage-door.com)
“The Lesson of Da Ji” – Lessons of Love
(Toronto Masque Theatre, 2013)
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“Coloratura soprano Vania Chan (Shepherdess/Moon 1) showed a sweet, light voice in the Blow and Peking Opera skills in Da Ji, making her a formidable partner with Lau.”
Paula Citron (Opera Canada)
“Venus and Adonis”/”The Lesson of Da Ji”
Lessons of Love (Toronto Masque Theatre, 2013)
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“Soprano Vania Chan enchanted those present with her performance as the wind-up doll in Offenbach’s opera The Tales of Hoffmann”
Jenny Pitt-Clark, Y-File editor
(York University Fine Arts news, Y-File)
York University 50th, Anniversary Gala, 2009 (Toronto)
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“All the singers are competent and skilled though not all are as brilliant in their performances as Vania Chan. She is a first-rate comedienne, an ideal soubrette with an elfin presence and a quicksilver mind. On stage for much of the opera, she captured our attention and like a real professional managed to animate her scenes without upstaging her colleagues or eating the scenery.
Stephen Pedersen (Halifax Chronicle Herald)
“Le Nozze di Figaro”
(Halifax Summer Opera Festival/Workshop, 2008)
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“The stage presence of these young performers is riveting, especially that of Vania Chan as Susanna, who looks like a minx and sings like an angel.”
Kate Watson (The Coast – Halifax, Nova Scotia)
“Le Nozze di Figaro”
(Halifax Summer Opera Festival/Workshop, 2008)
“Soprano Vania Chan sang a lilting and charming Durch Zärtlichkeit und Schmeicheln (with tenderness and coaxing) from Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio in fluent German.”
“Vania Chan sang the Doll Song from Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffmann with amusing robot like mechanical movements and dazzled us with her coloratura fireworks.”
Nino Pantano (Opera-L, New York)
Gateway Classical Music Society
Opera Highlights, 2010
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