Thomas Aláan | Countertenor

I sing like a girl and that’s awesome.

Reviews

Stellar
Chicago Tribune

Countertenor Thomas Alaan and soprano Henriet Fourie imbued “He Shall Feed His Flock” with lullaby gentleness.

Chicago on the Aisle

But pop-star affectations are just a gloss on a seriously accomplished artist… To everything Aláan sings, he brings an uncanny richness and power...
Newcity: Street Smart Chicago

Countertenor Thomas Aláan has a powerful voice and is extraordinary as the petulant and cruel Nerone.
Isthmus

Nerone (Nero) was Thomas Aláan... His voice is incredibly powerful, and he was able to color it both menacing and seductive... There was a stretch of several minutes where it seemed that… Aláan and Engstrom were oblivious that anything existed other than their singing. The union of instruments and voices, the whole throbbing with drama, is quite simply the kind of experience that is the goal of opera, for both composer and audience.
What Greg Says

Nero was sung by countertenor Thomas Aláan who has a voice of great agility and expressiveness... the farewell duet between Nero and Poppea... was highly charged vocally and erotic in its beauty and delivery.
The Well-Tempered Ear

And what fun it is! Warhol may not have been an asexual countertenor in real life, but it makes shocking good sense to Thomas Aláan as a creepy, clingy Warhol/Oberon.
Isthmus

Indeed, Thomas Aláan, in the role of Oberon, was a very convincing Warhol in look and gesture. More importantly, the young man who owned the part of Nero in last season’s “Poppea” displayed an even wider range of vocal gifts than heard a year ago. There was more opportunity for Aláan to display his lower range, and the idea of being Warhol offered perhaps a bit more latitude in expression than if it had been a strictly traditional staging.
What Greg Says

Simply stole the show with his unearthly round tone and singular power
Communities Digital News

Artful and moving... rendered with dynamic precision
Communities Digital News

Soaring sound... simmering singing... heartfelt
Hyde Park Herald

Traced ornate melodies... with excellent timing and intonation.
The Elgin Review

Incredible diction... significant and clean upper register.
The Post-Journal

Owner of a glorious countertenor voice.
Herald Times

Bios

Short Bio

Thomas has sung a lot and done some cool things. He plans to continue singing and doing cool things until he decides he’s finished. Then he will stop. He also likes cats. 😻

Regular Bio

Critically acclaimed stellar [Chicago Tribune] countertenor Thomas Aláan has been a featured soloist on radio shows, album recordings, concert series, and festivals across the United States. He has performed with groups including Alchymy Viols, Ars Antigua, Bella Voce Camerata, Bach Cantata Vespers, Charlottesville Early Music Access Project, Credo, Elgin Master Elgin Symphony Orchestra and Chorale, Helios Ensemble, Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra, Mountainside Baroque, Musikanten Montana, and Schola Antiqua. Festival appearances include the Boston Early Music Festival Fringe Series, the Bach and Beyond Baroque Early Music Festival, the Baroque on Beaver Island Festival, the Wicker Park Music Festival, the Bloomington Early Music Festival, and the Ear Taxi Festival.

In media, he’s been heard on WGN Radio (Up Late with Patti Vasquez, Nocturnal Journal), WNPR (The Midday), WFMT (The Midnight Special, Midday), and Chicago Irish Radio; has interviewed with Early Music America, Huffington Post, and 98.7 WFMT; and can be heard regularly on podcasts such as Best Nerds Studio and The BBE Live, the latter featured through Early Music America’s Wellness Series. His recordings include Vivaldi’s solo cantata Stabat mater dolorosa for Biretta Books; Haydn’s Requiem and Vivaldi’s Gloria with the Elgin Master Chorale and Symphony Orchestra; Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms with the Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra; and An Appalachian Summer, A Gaelic Summer, and Chicago Stories: The Album with the BBE.

He has premiered several new works written for countertenor, including Eric Malmquist’s Two Assyrian Songs, A Portrait of Lam Ho, and A Valediction; Amos Gillespie’s Three Songs; Mark Nowakowski’s O Dulcis Electe, Chesterton’s Carol, and Mizerna Cicha; Kurt Westerberg’s Three Orphic Hymns; Lucas Tuazon’s In service to; Heidi Joosten’s Edwin in the Lowlands Low; and Tomás Gueglio’s Blue Heron. He will solo in the BBE’s upcoming four-part commission Chicago Stories: The Oratorio.

When not singing, Thomas is engaged in teaching, directing, and administration. His home studio at Chicago Voice Lessons is vibrant, with singers of all backgrounds and genre interests. He served as co-director of the Bach and Beethoven Experience (BBE) for many years, as co-director of OperaWorks™ during its post-pandemic relaunch in 2023, and as co-founder /co-director of The EcoVoice Project. He is a sustainability and climate change educator at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) where he ran the internationally acclaimed Summer Institute on Climate and the Environment for 12 years. He teaches Music as a Tool for Environmentalism and Change and The Music and Science Connection in the UIC Honors College, is Associate Conductor and Director of Women’s Schola at Holy Name Cathedral, and moonlights as an occasional saxophonist. Thomas has presented talks at conferences including the Loyola Climate Change Conference, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, the Summer Institute on Sustainability and Energy, the Helena Music Teachers Association, The People's Music School, Self Employment in the Arts (SEA) Art Business Entrepreneurship Workshop, and through Next Generation Electrochemistry and ComSciCon-Atlanta he’s worked with doctoral students and early career post-docs on presentation using opera performance skills.

Thomas received his Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) in Performance from the University of Wisconsin - Madison where he was a Paul Collins Wisconsin Distinguished Graduate Fellow studying with Jim Doing. His research interests include the performance practice and ornamentation of Sean-nòs singers, and the use of music in sociopolitical and environmental movements. He received his Master of Arts in Vocal Pedagogy at Texas Woman’s University with renowned author and pedagogue, Joan Wall, and his Bachelor of Arts in Music Education (voice and saxophone) from Alderson-Broaddus University. Additional teacher-mentors include Sheri Greenawald, Mark Crayton, Ellen Hargis, Elizabeth Parker, Max von Egmond, Ann Baltz, David Brock, Beverly Hoch, Linda Poetschke, and Lewis Hall.

Outside of music, he is a National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer (Ports Performance Enhancement, Corrective Exercise, Behavioral Change, Virtual Coaching) and Certified Nutrition Coach (NASM-CPT(PES, CES, BCS, VCS)/CNC) and volunteers as President of the Board of Directors of The EcoVoice Project. When not engaged in any of the above activities, he can be found cooking or feeding his cat, Theobold 😻, shuffling, or playing World of Warcraft.

Long Bio

You don’t want to read it. He doesn’t want to write it. Let’s save ourselves time. 😹

We can make music to inform, connect, and inspire others when it comes to climate change and environmental justice issues.

The EcoVoiceProject is an arts organization designed to bring awareness to climate change and environmental issues through musical performance and inspire people to act for environmentally just causes. It connects musicians, interdisciplinary artists, scientists, and community members through concerts, discussions, outreach, and civic engagement.

In addition to co-directing and co-founding The EcoVoice Project, Thomas teaches courses in music, environmentalism, and science at the University of Illinois Chicago. He has presented and moderated panels on the use of music and the arts in environmental spaces at the Summer Institute on Climate and the Environment, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, and Loyola University Chicago’s Climate Change Conference. He’s even started a TikTok and Instagram to promote climate literacy through awesome tunes. Check out Thomas talking about music and environmentalism at the 11th annual UIC Summer Institute on Sustainability and Energy. (Talk at October 2021 AASHE Conference not available.)

Voice Lessons in Seattle

For twenty years Thomas has worked with singers from all backgrounds and skill levels to discover new ways to express themselves through the power of song.