Sumi Jo
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- This is a Korean name; the family name is Cho (曹).
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Sumi Jo (born as Soo Kyung Jo (조수경) on November 21, 1962 is a Grammy award winning South Korean lyric coloratura soprano known for her interpretations of the bel canto repetoire.[1].
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[edit] Early life and education
Sumi Jo was born in Seoul, Korea. Her mother was an amateur singer and pianist who had been unable to pursue her own professional music studies due to the political situation in Korea during the 1950s. Determined to provide her daughter with opportunities she never had, Jo's mother enrolled her in piano lessons at the age of 4 and later voice lessons at the age of 6. As a child, Jo would often spend up to eight hours a day studying music.[2] In 1976, Jo entered the Sun Hwa Arts School from which she graduated in 1980 with diplomas in voice and piano.[3] She continued her music studies at Seoul National University from 1981-1983. While studying at SNU, Jo made her professional recital debut, appeared in several concerts with the Korean Broadcasting Company, and made her professional operatic debut as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro with Seoul Opera.[4] In 1983 Jo decided to leave SNU in order to study music in Italy at the Accademia di Santa Cecelia in Rome. Among her teachers there were Carlo Bergonzi, and Grannila Bonelli. While Jo studied in Italy, she was frequently heard in concert in Italian cities and also on national radio broadcasts and telecasts. It was during this time when Jo decided to use 'Sumi' as her stage name in order to make her name more friendly to European language speakers whom often found it difficult to pronounce Soo Kyung. She graduated in 1985, with a concentration in keyboard as well as voice. Following graduation, Jo began to study voice with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf[5] and won several international competitions in Seoul, Naples, Enna, Barcelona and Pretoria. In August 1986 she was unanimously awarded first prize in the Carlo Alberto Cappelli International Competition at Verona, one of the world's most important contests, open only to first-prize winners of other major competitions. [6]
[edit] Career
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In 1986, Jo made her European operatic debut as Gilda in Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto at Teatro Comunale Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste. This debut performance attracted the attention of Herbert von Karajan, who proceeded to cast her as Oscar in Un Ballo in Maschera opposite Plácido Domingo at the Salzburg Festival in 1987.[7] In 1988, Jo made her La Scala debut as Thetis in Jommelli's Fetonte.[8] That same year she also made her debut with the Bavarian State Opera. In 1989, Jo made her debut with the Vienna State Opera. That same year, Jo made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera, once again portraying Gilda in Rigoletto. Jo would later reprise this role numerous times with the Met over the next fifteen years.[9] In 1990, Jo made her debut with the Chicago Lyric Opera as the Queen of the Night in Mozart's The Magic Flute.[10] In 1991, Jo returned to the Metropolitan Opera for another performance as Oscar in Un Ballo in Maschera.[11] In 1993, Jo appeared in the title role of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor with the Metropolitan Opera.[12] In 1994, Jo made her debut with Los Angeles Opera as Sophie in Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier.[13] In 1998, Jo returned to the Metropolitan Opera to portray both Olympia in Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffman and Rosina in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia.[14] In 2008, she will make her role debut as Violetta in La traviata with the Toulon Opera.[15]
Sumi Jo has also appeared with other prestigous opera companies like the Opera National de Paris, Washington Opera, the Deutsche Oper Berlin[16], Opera Australia, Covent Garden[17], the Minnesota Opera, and the Teatro Colón[18] among others. Jo has also sung under the batons of such conductors as Sir Georg Solti, Zubin Mehta, Lorin Maazel, James Levine, Kent Nagano, and Richard Bonynge.[19]
Sumi Jo has also performed with some of the world's finest orchestras including the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra[20], the Cincinnati Pops, the Orchestra of St. Luke's[21], the Wiener Philharmoniker, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra among others.
Sumi Jo has also performed at some of the world's best music festivals including the Aix en Provence Festival[22] and the Orange Festival.[23]
Sumi Jo has sung with some of the world's finest artists including Andrea Bocelli[24] and Florence Quivar among others.
She also shared a Grammy for Best Opera Recording in 1992 for Richard Strauss' Die Frau ohne Schatten [25].
She also provided a vocalise for the soundtrack of The Ninth Gate, composed by Wojciech Kilar. The main theme of this film is based on a piece by Camille Saint-Saëns.
[edit] Repetoire
[edit] Opera roles
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[edit] Concert Work
[edit] Recordings
Sumi Jo currently has 48 recordings to her credit, including ten solo albums for Erato, French division of Warner Classic. These recordings include complete operas, oratories, operetta, and orchestra works. Among them include her Grammy-winning Die Frau Ohne Schatten with Sir Georg Solti for the London/Decca label and Un Ballo in maschera for Deutsche Grammophon under Herbert von Karajan.[26]
[edit] Awards and Honors
- 2002- Sumi Jo sang at the World Cup in Seoul, Korea.[27]
- 2003- Sumi Jo was elected as an "Artist for Peace" of UNESCO.[28]
- 2008- Sumi Jo received the international Puccini Award ]</ref>
[edit] Family
Sumi Jo is related to Korean actor Yoo Gun (also spelt Yoo Geon). Jo is Yoo Gun's grandfather's brother's daughter. [29]
[edit] References
- ^ Sumi Jo
- ^ Sumi Jo: Devoted to Music
- ^ ÀÌ ¹®Àº ¼¼°è·Î ÅëÇÑ´Ù. ¼±È¿¹¼ú°íµîÇб³¿¡ ¿À½Å °É ȯ¿µÇÕ´Ï´Ù
- ^ Sumi Jo
- ^ Sumi Jo: Devoted to Music
- ^ Biography for Sumi Jo - WindowsMedia.com Media Guide
- ^ LA Phil Presents | About the Performer - Sumi Jo
- ^ CULTURE- Korean
- ^ Metropolitan Opera Association
- ^ Lyric Opera of Chicago: www.lyricopera.org
- ^ Metropolitan Opera Association
- ^ Metropolitan Opera Association
- ^ LA Phil Presents | About the Performer - Sumi Jo
- ^ Metropolitan Opera Association
- ^ Sumi Jo
- ^ Askonas Holt: Sumi Jo
- ^ CULTURE- Korean
- ^ Vancouver Symphony Orchestra - The Concerts - Artist Bios
- ^ Askonas Holt: Sumi Jo
- ^ LSM Newswire: [Vancouver] Sumi Jo with the VSO!
- ^ Vancouver Symphony Orchestra - The Concerts - Artist Bios
- ^ CULTURE- Korean
- ^ Vancouver Symphony Orchestra - The Concerts - Artist Bios
- ^ Vancouver Symphony Orchestra - The Concerts - Artist Bios
- ^ Timothy Borden. Sumi Jo Biography. Musician Biographies.
- ^ LSM Newswire: [Vancouver] Sumi Jo with the VSO!
- ^ ESPNsoccernet.com World Cup 2002: Hiddink: Koreans closing the gap
- ^ Vancouver Symphony Orchestra - The Concerts - Artist Bios
- ^ 네이버 뉴스
