LRAM, GRSM

One of the most outstanding singers from Asia, Nancy Yuen made her debut upon graduation from the Royal Academy of Music, London, with the Welsh National Opera, singing the title role of Madama Butterfly to great critical acclaim. She has since reprised the role all over the world, notably with the English National Opera, Scottish Opera, West Australian Opera, Opera Queensland, Opera Northern Ireland, Singapore Lyric Opera (SLO), Bangkok Opera (BO), the New Zealand International Festival of Arts, the Barbados Opera Festival, at the Royal Albert Hall for Raymond Gubbay Limited in 1998, 2000 and 2003.

Other starring operatic roles include Romilda (Xerxes), Violetta (La Traviata), Aida, Gilda (Rigoletto), Tytania (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Rosalinda (Die Fledermaus), Nedda (I Pagliacci), Leonora (Il Trovatore), Tosca, Liza (The Queen of Spades), Mimi (La Bohème), Jenny (Mahagony Songspiel), Micaela (Carmen), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Liu (Turandot), Antonia (Les Contes D’Hoffmann), Thaiis and Countessa (Le Nozze di Figaro).

A celebrated recitalist and versatile concert artist, she performs regularly with major orchestras and choral societies. Her appearances have included performances with Christopher Hogwood, Trevor Pinnock, Richard Armstrong, Carlo Rizzi, Helmuth Rilling, Tsung Yeh and orchestras such as the London Mozart Players, BBC Concert Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Tivoli Symphony Orchestra,  the Shanghai Opera Orchestra and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.

Nancy regularly gives vocal masterclasses in Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and many parts of China. She is a frequent guest as adjudicator for international competitions and music festivals, e.g. the 59th and 65th Hong Kong Schools Music Festival, Competizione dell’Opera organized by Opera Bremen, Germany, Macau Music Festivals in 2012, 2014 & 2016 and SLO ASEAN Vocal Competitions in Singapore in 2016 & 2018. As a director of operas, she has staged full productions of Così fan tutte, The Merry Widow, Prima la Musica and excerpts from many different operas.

Since 2015 she has been the Honorary Artistic Director of Singapore Lyric Opera. On stage in 2016 she reprised her signature role as “Madama Butterfly” with Opera Hong Kong and made her role debut as Senta in Wagner’s “Der Fliegende Holländer” presented by the Wagner Society in Singapore.  In 2017 she sang the role of Mimì in “La Bohème” with Bangkok Opera. In 2018 Nancy sings the title role of Aida with SLO, once again reprises her role as Cio-cio-san with Opera Siam and performs the role of Liu in “Turandot”, presented by Musicians Society of Singapore.

Nancy has been the Head of Vocal Studies at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts since March 2010. For her significant achievements and distinguished contributions to music, she has been elected Associate of the Royal Academy of Music in 2014, awarded “Friend of the Arts” by the Singapore National Arts Council and appointed as Professor by the HKAPA both in 2018.