Kim was raised in Seoul, South Korea, where she sang in the children's chorus of the national broadcasting company. "I was on TV every Sunday, singing, and I loved it."[1] She studied classical voice with Fa Park. In 1994, Kim left for the United States during her second year at Seoul Arts High School[2] and enrolled at the Manhattan School of Music, receiving a Bachelor of Music degree in 1998 and a Master's in 2000.[3]
Since her professional debut, Kim has sung with major opera companies in numerous theatres across the world, including the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Gran Teatre del Liceu, the Bayerische Staatsoper, and the Opéra de Lille.
Kim made several role debuts in 2011, including her first performance in the title role of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor. In 2012, she sang in a performance of Adams's Nixon in China at the BBC Proms, and also sang Mozart's Mass in C minor with the Oslo Philharmonic. In September 2015, she was appointed as a professor of Music College at Hanyang University.
Awards
Kim has been the recipient of many prizes and awards, including an award from the Sullivan Foundation in 2006,[10] the Sarasota Opera Guild's Leo Rogers Scholarship,[10] and the Union League Civic & Arts Foundation's Rose Ann Grund Scholarship. She was the third-prize winner of the Mario Lanza Competition,[10] a prize winner of the Liederkranz Competition,[10] and a national finalist in the MacAllister Awards.[10] At Music Academy of the West, she received the Encouragement Award of the Marilyn Horne Foundation Song Competition.[10]
Repertoire
Kim's repertoire includes the following operatic roles: