Chee-Shen Tan

           Born and raised in Malaysia , tenor Tan Chee Shen is a winner of numerous awards including the grand prize of the Singapore­Malaysia voice competition, Takasaki International Music Competition for High School Students, the Bangkok Opera South­East Asia vocal competition and most recently the Bronze award of NTDTV International Chinese Singing Competition in NYC. During the summer of 2005, Chee Shen was awarded a full scholarship to attend the famed Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California, where he worked with distinguished American mezzo soprano Marilyn Horne and pianist Warren Jones. He also attended the International Vocal Arts Institute at Montreal , Canada in Summer 2008.

           Chee Shen earned his Master of music degree from Mannes College of Music in New York where he also attended for undergraduate. At Mannes, Chee Shen sang roles such as Rinuccio and Tinca from Gianni Schichi and Il Tabarro, Don Curzio from Le Nozze di Figaro, Arturo from I Puritani, Magician from The Consul, Ferrando from Cosi fan Tutte and many more, under the baton of Maestro Joseph Colaneri from the Metropolitan Opera and also the director of Mannes Opera. On the concert stage, he has performed as the tenor soloist in Bach Magnificat and a Bach excerpts concert, both with Canta Lyrica conducted by Metropolitan Opera's assistant conductor, Joshua Greene. He also performed Mohammed Fairouz's song cycles with the Mimesis ensemble and as a tenor soloist for Janacek's Our Father and Brahms Neue Liebeslieder with Pro Arte chorale and an Opera Scenes performance with Canta Lyrica.

           Chee Shen's pedagogic activities started when he was fresh out of high school. He was appointed as the assistant choir director of his high school and started coaching students  to prepare them for concerts and competitions from local to national level. Since then, he has maintain his private studio and teaches students of different ages with different backgrounds and goals ( Classical, Musical theater, Pop). Chee Shen believes in building a solid foundation and developing a technique that frees the students to explore their individual potentials.