A trip to South Korea in the late autumn is not something I could turn down, with such a vibrant operatic scene and worldwide recognition for the talent of their voices. I was happy to visit our two members – Seoul Arts Centre and its impressive 3 opera stages, 4 concert halls and multiple museums; and Daegu Opera House, the only opera-producing theatre of South Korea.
Daegu Opera House joined Opera Europa last season, attracted by the Opera Europa Next Generation platform co-funded by Creative Europe. Indeed, Intendant Kab-gun Chung has a true passion for young singers, and has developed his own programme to foster European and Korean artists in his Global Young Artists programme.
It was a pleasure to receive his invitation to join a panel of international guests committed to fostering these global relationships and developing young artists. With our members Barbara Minghetti (Como), Marcello Corvino (Ferrara) and Giorgio Angelo Lazzarini (Lucca), we were treated to South Korean gourmet food and cultural outings. Our main mission though was the invitation to see two casts perform a charming production of Le nozze di Figaro staged by Korean director Sookjeong Eom. She worked for a full month with 17 young singers from Canada, Italy, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, and South Korea.
The production was live-streamed for World Opera Day, gathering over ten thousand views within a week. Both casts can be discovered on OperaVision until 24 December, and extracts for each artist are available for longer. They are also all featured on Operabook. Three of the young artists – Silvia Spessot, Woorin Kim and Agnes Hyunjin Kim, might be seen at Opera Europa Recital Auditions in the next year. This is part of Opera Europa’s commitment to support visibility opportunities for emerging artists.
The 22nd Daegu Opera Festival was also host to Opera Hub Korea, gathering the rich and diverse representation of South Korea’s opera landscape. It was a day of presentations, exchanges, and finding paths for collaboration, and was an excellent opportunity to initiate conversations around the 2028 World Opera Forum to be hosted by New National Theatre Tokyo.
I look forward to building the relationship with our Eastern members, not least by welcoming our newest: the Daegu International Vocal Competition!
Audrey Jungers
Managing Director
