Konu Kim

Biography

The winner of Plácido Domingo’s Operalia competition, tenor Konu Kim makes his debut at the State opera on 14 January 2023 as Duke in Verdi’s Rigoletto.

Kim’s 2022/2023 season is marked by his return to the Royal Opera House as Count Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, debut at Deutsche Oper am Rhein as Tonio in La fille du régiment, debut with Irish National Opera as Arnold Melchtal in William Tell. He will also be seen as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte in National Taichung Theater and as a soloist of Petite Messe Solennelle with Maestro Mariotti for Wexford Opera Festival. Last season was marked by his debut with Glyndebourne Festival as Ferrando in Così fan tutte and later as Ernesto in Don Pasquale, the role he performed also with the Finnish National Opera. He made his US debut at San Diego Opera as Ferrando in Così fan tutte, house debut at San Francisco Opera as Bao Yu Dream of the Red Chamber. Other engagements include his debut with Donizetti Festival in Bergamo as Leone in L’Ange de Nisida, Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Nouvel Opera Fribourg and Royal Opera House, debut with the Irish National Opera as Arnold Melchtal in William Tell at the Swedish National Opera, Edoardo in Un giorno di regno with Garsington Festival, in Teatro Verdi di Busseto he took on the role of Duke in Rigoletto, at the Daegu Opera he performed Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Capellio Giulietta e Romeo at Belcanto Opera Festival in Japan, Elvino in La Sonnambula with Budapest Müpa Palace of Arts. Kim’s past engagements include Nadir in Les Pêcheurs de perles for Korean National Opera, Edoardo in Il giorno, and Count Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia for Theater Rudolstadt and in concert at Carnegie Hall. Kim studied at Kyung Hee University in Seoul, the Korean National Opera Academy, and in Germany. Awards include first prizes at the Concours musical international de Montréal and Operalia, second prize at the Seoul International Music Competition, and further awards at the Marmande International Opera Singing Competition, France, the G. B. Rubini, Marcello Giordani and Riccardo Zandonai international singing competitions in Italy, and the International Stanisław Moniuszko Vocal Competition in Poland. He joined the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House at the start of the 2017/18 Season. His roles there include Arturo Bucklaw in Lucia di Lammermoor, Mitrane in Semiramide, Fourth Jew in Salome, Voice in From the House of the Dead, Malcolm Macbeth and First Follower of Telramund in Lohengrin, Tonio in La Fille du régiment, Maintop in Bill, Gastone in La traviata, and Chaplitsky in The Queen of Spades.