Born to a Chinese Indonesian father (from Jakarta) and Greek American mother (from Indianapolis), Phan grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he attended Greenhills School.
Phan is an alumnus of the Houston Grand Opera Studio and the Marlboro Music School.
His repertoire includes the title roles in Acis and Galatea and Candide, Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore, Fenton in Falstaff, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, and Lurcanio in Ariodante.
He has been nominated twice for a Grammy Award: first for his 2010 recording of Stravinsky's Pulcinella with Pierre Boulez and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and most recently in 2017 for Gods and Monsters, his recording of selected German Lieder with Myra Huang.
[5] Phan is the founding artistic director of Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago.