Click here to change this text
An active musician in Vancouver, Tina has performed across Canada, the US, and Europe. As a recitalist, she has performed with such distinguished artists as Daniel Okulitch, Melody Courage, Lara Ciekiewicz, Manuela Custer, and Alessandra Volpe. She has toured with various artists in Vancouver to all corners of British Columbia separately with the group QuintEssence (Robyn Driedger-Klassen, Barb Towell, Frederik Robert, and Peter Alexander) and the Vancouver Opera in Schools (VOIS) to bring music to underserved communities while enjoying the rugged landscapes of the Pacific Northwest. Other organizations and concert series that Tina has been a part of include Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Chor Leoni, Against the Grain, Little Chamber Music, Sound the Alarm Theatre, Health Arts Society, the Silk Purse Arts Centre, and City Opera Vancouver.
A lover of art song, Tina is co-founder of the Connective Collective with soprano Sarah Jo Kirsch. Together, the Collective seeks to connect poetry and music with contemporary social issues. Through interdisciplinary projects and discussions with scholars and professionals in social, political, literary, historical, and scientific fields, the Connective Collective explores multiple perspectives to inform and enhance the appreciation of song, whether it be centuries old or freshly written. Stay tuned for the release of podcast episodes and upcoming recital programming in support of these social subjects!
In addition to performing, Tina is on the music staff of Vancouver Opera as Chorus Director, Principal Répétiteur and Coach. With Vancouver Opera, Tina has been involved all the productions since including numerous new productions and commissions such as Michael Cavanagh’s production of Nixon in China conducted by Richard Bonynge during the 2010 Winter Olympics, Shane Koyczan and Neil Weisensel’s Stickboy, Nico Muhly’s Dark Sisters, Jake Heggie and Terence McNally’s Dead Man Walking, and classics like Verdi’s Otello and Don Carlos, Puccini’s La Bohème and Madama Butterfly, Bizet’s Carmen, and Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. From 2016 to 2019, Tina has served on the music staff at the Wexford Festival Opera in Ireland, a festival with a mission to present rarely performed works. At WFO, she was involved in Félicien David’s Herculanum, Jacopo Foroni’s Margherita conducted by Timothy Myers, the double bill of Franco Leoni’s L’Oracolo and Umberto Giordano’s Mala vita conducted by Francesco Cilluffo, and Antonio Vivaldi’s Dorilla in Tempe conducted by Andrea Marchiol. She was also music director to the ShortWorks program, presenting chamber operas such as Donizetti’s Il campanello, Rossini’s La scala di seta, and a program of Leonard Bernstein’s works in commemoration of the composer’s centenary. Past engagements have included contracts with illustrious companies such as Opéra de Montréal, San Diego Opera, Mill City Summer Opera in Minneapolis, soundSCAPE New Music Festival in Italy, and the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival. Summer festival experience has included Glimmerglass Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, SongFest, and Vancouver International Song Institute.
Academically, Tina is Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia and on faculty at the Vancouver Academy of Music. She has been a guest artist at Simon Fraser University’s School for the Contemporary Arts mentoring composers in writing idiomatically for the piano and the voice. She has also been on staff at Dalhousie University in Halifax where she coached voice and instrumental students as well as taught keyboard skills to piano and non-piano majors alike. She enjoys teaching, and maintains a private piano studio in Vancouver.
“The cast was supported by the scintillating piano playing of the music director, Tina Chang, who really brought out the liveliness and humour in Rossini’s score, so much so that she made one forget about the exciting racing strings and wonderful textures of the woodwind sections that characterize La Scala di Seta.”
– Alan Neilson, Opera Wire