|
The Korean-American counter-tenor, Kangmin Justin Kim, was born in South Korea, where he was living until he was 11 years old. In 2000, his family moved to Evanston, Illinois. His father is an engineer and his mother a deaconess. He obtained his Bachelor of Music degree Cum laude in Voice Performance; and Music Theater Certificate in Voice and Opera, Musical Theater from the Northwestern University in Evanston (2007-2011); and his Master of Music degree (Grade: DipRAM; Concert Project) in Vocal Faculty, Voice and Opera from the Royal Academy of Music in London (2011-2013).
Kangmin Justin Kim is one of the most sought-after counter-tenors of his generation. He has earned accolades in roles of the Baroque repertoire, contemporary music and in W.A. Mozart's trouser parts at the most prestigious opera theatres and festivals such as the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Staatsoper Berlin, the Salzburg Festival and Glyndebourne. He has collaborated with such prestigious conductor as Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Marc Minkowski, Andrea Marcon and Michael Hofstetter.
Kangmin Justin Kim's career started in 2013, when he performed a leading role in Francesco Cavalli's opera Elena at the Aix-en-Provence Festival conducted by Leonardo García-Alarcón. The production also went on tour through several French and European cities, where Kim auditioned for various opera companies and got engaged to sing the role of Sesto in W.A. Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito at the Montpellier Opera House in the 2014-2015 season. In Aix-en-Provence, he also got to know Marc Minkowski and Ivan Alexander with whom he sang Prince Orlofsky in a new production of Die Fledermaus at the Opéra Comique of Paris in the same season. Another important engagement in 2014-2015 was his debut at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris as Oreste in La Belle Hélène which was telecast by Arte. He was a member of the opera company in Heidelberg in the 2015-2016 season, where his roles included Cherubino in W.A. Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro and the title role in the world premiere of Johannes Kalitzke's Pym. (February-May 2016). Other early major successes were Idamante in W.A. Mozart's Idomeneo at the Stadttheater Gießen under the baton of Michael Hofstetter (January-April 2014), Enea in the George Frideric Handel/Vinci pasticcio Didone abbandonata at the Handel Festival Halle (December 2015-May 2016), his first Sesto in G.F. Handel's Giulio Cesare at the Handel Week Festival Oak Park. He also performed in Gala Concerts at the Styriarte Graz and at the Rokokotheater Schloss Schwetzingen.
In the 2016-2017 season, Kangmin Justin Kim made his debuts at many prestigious international opera houses and festivals, singing Speranza in Claudio Monteverdi's L'Orfeo and Nerone in L'incoronazione di Poppea with the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner as part of a tour with performances at the Teatro La Fenice, the Salzburg Festival, Edinburgh Festival, Lucerne Festival, Berliner Philharmonie and Philharmonie de Paris. About his Nerone at the New York Alice Tully Hall, The New York Times wrote that Kim "made a headstrong Nero, with his wildly punkish blond hair and a wiry physique always coiled and ready to pounce" and that "his intensity was terrifying". He made his debuts at the Glyndebourne Festival as Nireno in G.F. Handel's Giulio Cesare in Egitto and at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin as Nerone in L'incoronazione di Poppea in 2018.
Performances of the 2019-2020 season include the title role in the world premiere of M. Butterfly, a new opera by Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang at Santa Fe Opera, his house debut at the Theater an der Wien as Annio in a new staging of W.A. Mozart's La clemenza di Tito and at the Dallas Opera in a gala concert, a concert with Lucia Lucas at the National Sawdust in New York, his role debut as Ruggiero in a new production of G.F. Handel's Alcina in Nancy and Dijon conducted by Leonardo García-Alarcón (March 2020), Nerone in L’incoronazione di Poppea for Haymarket Opera in Chicago, Barzane in Arsilda in Dresden and Prague and his return to Cologne as Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus.
In June 2019, he made history as the first counter-tenor singing Cherubino in W.A. Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, also making his house debut. He was recently heard also as as Nerone in L’incoronazione di Poppea at the Staatsoper Berlin, as Nerone and Speranza in L’Orfeo at the Salzburg Festival, New York Lincoln Center, Philharmonie of Paris and Berlin, Harris Theatre in Chicago, Edinburgh Festival, Lucerne Festival and the Teatro La Fenice in Venice conducted by John Eliot Gardiner, as Cesare in Antonio Vivaldi's Catone in Utica and as Orlofsky in a new production of Die Fledermaus at the Oper Köln, as Orfeo in G.F. Handel's Parnasso in festa at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam conducted by Andrea Marcon, in G.F. Handel's Giulio Cesare for his Glyndebourne debut conducted by William Christie, as Idamante in a new production of W.A. Mozart's Idomeneo and in a staged production of G.F. Handel's Jephtha at the Maifestspiele Wiesbaden, as Idelberto in a new production of Lotario at Konzert Theater Bern, in his debut at the Teatro San Carlo of Naples in Benjamin Britten’s Canticles alongside Ian Bostridge, in Carmina Burana with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, as Barzane in Antonio Vivaldi's Arsilda with the Collegium 1704 in Bratislava, Caen, Lille, Luxembourg and Versailles, Speranza in L’Orfeo at the Opéra de Dijon, and Romeo in Zingarelli’s Giulietta e Romeo at the Rokokotheater of Schwetzingen. In 2022, on the occasion of the French-Czech co-production, he performs the role of Ruggiero in G.F. Handel's Alcina with the Collegium 1704 under the conductor Václav Luks at the National theatre in Brno.
For his interpretation of the title role of Pym he received nominations as “Best Singer” of the 2015-2016 season for the German theatre award DER FAUST 2016 and from the magazine Opernwelt as “Singer of the year 2016”. He was also nominated as Young Singer of The Year at the 2019 International Opera Awards. He currently lives in Paris, France. |
