Sumi Jo

Jo was born Jo Su-gyeong [tɕo sʰuɡjʌŋ] in Changwon, South Korea. Her mother was an amateur singer and pianist who had been unable to pursue her own professional music studies because of politics 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. Although Jo's family lived in a rented property, her parents bought a piano for her to play.^[6] Her mother raised and trained Jo strictly. Jo recalled even when her mother went out, she locked the door outside so that Jo could not play truant.^[7] As a child, Jo would often spend up to eight hours a day studying music.^[8]

In 1976, Jo entered the Sun Hwa Arts School from which she graduated in 1980, receiving dual diplomas in voice and piano.^[9] She entered the department of vocal music at the Seoul National University (SNU) with the best practical score since the department had opened.^[10] There she continued her music studies from 1981 to 1983. While studying at SNU, Jo made her professional recital debut, appeared in several concerts with the Korean Broadcasting System, and made her professional operatic debut as Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro with Seoul Opera.^[4]

In 1983, Jo left SNU in order to study at the Conservatorio Santa Cecilia in Rome. Among her teachers were Carlo Bergonzi and Giannella Borelli. While Jo studied in Italy, she was frequently heard in concert in Italian cities and on national radio broadcasts and telecasts. It was during this time when Jo began to use "Sumi" as her stage name in order to make her name more friendly to European language speakers who often found it difficult to pronounce Su-gyeong. She graduated in 1985 with majors in keyboard and voice.^{[citation needed]}

Following graduation, Jo began to study with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf^[8] 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 in Verona, one of the world's most important contests, open only to first-prize winners of other major competitions.^[11]

In 1986, Jo made her European operatic debut as Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto at the Teatro Comunale Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste. This performance drew the attention of Herbert von Karajan, who proceeded to cast her as Oscar in Un ballo in maschera opposite Plácido Domingo for the 1989 Salzburg Festival.^[12] Karajan's death during festival rehearsals prevented Jo from actually singing on stage under his baton (Georg Solti conducted the performances) but she did sing under Karajan in the studio recording of Ballo, made in the early months of 1989 for Deutsche Grammophon.^[13]

In 1988, Jo made her La Scala debut as Thetis in Niccolò Jommelli's Fetonte.^[14] That same year she made her debut with the Bavarian State Opera and sang Barbarina in The Marriage of Figaro at the Salzburg Festival.

In 1989, Jo made her debut with the Vienna State Opera and returned to the Salzburg Festival to sing Oscar in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera. That same year, she 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.^[15]

In 1990, Jo made her debut with the Chicago Lyric Opera as the Queen of the Night in Mozart's The Magic Flute.^[16] The following year, she returned to the Metropolitan Opera for another performance as Oscar in Un ballo in maschera and made her Royal Opera, Covent Garden, debut as Olympia in The Tales of Hoffmann.^[15] She returned to Covent Garden the next year to sing Adina in L'elisir d'amore and Elvira in I puritani.

In 1993, Jo appeared in the title role of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor with the Metropolitan Opera and sang the role of the Queen of the Night at the Salzburg Festival and Covent Garden.^[15] The following year she made her debut with Los Angeles Opera as Sophie in Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier.^[12] In 1995 she sang the role of Countess Adèle in Le comte Ory at the Aix-en-Provence Festival.

Over the next decade Jo maintained a busy schedule, singing Lucia in Strasbourg, Barcelona, Berlin, and Paris; La sonnambula in Brussels and Santiago, Chile; I Capuleti e i Montecchi with Minnesota Opera; Olympia and Rosina in New York; the Queen of the Night in Los Angeles; Gilda in Bilbao, Oviedo, Bologna, Trieste, and Detroit among others; Il turco in Italia in Spain; L'enfant et les sortilèges in Boston and Pittsburgh; Le comte Ory in Rome; and Dinorah in New York. She also appeared in performances at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Opéra National de Paris, Washington Opera, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Opera Australia, and the Teatro Colón.

In addition, she appeared with numerous symphony orchestras in concert, including the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra,^[17] the Cincinnati Pops, the Orchestra of St. Luke's, the Vienna Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra among others. Her work led her to sing under such conductors as Sir Georg Solti, Zubin Mehta, Lorin Maazel, James Levine, Kent Nagano, and Richard Bonynge. She also gave recitals throughout Europe, the United States, Canada, and Australia.^[18]

In 2002, Jo sang the theme song for the Korean Broadcasting System's broadcast of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, "The Champions".^[19] In 2007, she performed her first Violetta in La traviata with the Toulon Opera and in the 2008/2009 season she was scheduled to perform the role of Zerline in Fra Diavolo at the Opera Comique and Opéra Royal de Wallonie.^[4] In 2008, Jo participated in the Beijing Olympics with Renée Fleming and Angela Gheorghiu.^[20] In 2011, she provided the singing voice of Veda Pierce in the HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce.

On 9 March 2018, Jo performed a specially-recorded duet with fellow vocalist Sohyang, the song "Here As One", during the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

In 2021, Jo was appointed as the visiting distinguished professor at KAIST's Graduate School of Culture Technology.^[21] In October 2023, she was awarded the first-class Geumgwan Order of Cultural Merit for her contributions to the promotion of Korean culture.^[22]

Jo is the cousin aunt of South Korean actor Yoo Gun, his father's cousin sister.^[24]

Just before she performed Ave Maria at Chatelet, Paris, in 2006, Jo's father, Eonho Jo, died. When she learned that her father had died, she wanted to cancel the performance and return to South Korea for the funeral. Her mother reminded Jo of her promise to her audiences, and said that it was better if she went on with the show in honor of her father. Her performance was dedicated to her father and released as a DVD titled Sumi Jo in Paris – For my Father.^[25]

Jo is an advocate for animal rights and one of only five Asian celebrities to make People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Asia-Pacific's (PETA) first-ever Best-Dressed 2008 list.^[26]

Jo's mother, Malsoon Kim died in 2021 after suffering from Alzheimer's for 10 years in hospital. She was unable to attend to her mother's funeral in South Korea due to COVID-19 quarantine, while she was in Italy.^[27]

Aria of Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, written by Richard Strauss in 1912, is a difficult piece over 20 minutes in length with numerous high notes. Therefore, Strauss modified part of the sheet music because he thought it was impossible to sing. In 1994, however, Jo became the world's first artist to record the unedited original version of the song.^[28] She recorded the song with a Japanese-American conductor, Kent Nagano, in Lyon, France.^[29] Jo said it was the hardest record to sing ever. In 1993, she became the first Asian soprano to win La Siola d'Oro. In addition, Jo won six international competitions for the first time as an Asian soprano, and was recorded as the first Asian prima donna who starred in the world's opera theaters.^[30]

"Her voice is the best gift God has given," said Herbert von Karajan, who is considered as one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, and praised her as "a voice from above".^[31] Karajan also admired, "I am surprised that you have learned in Korea, are there such excellent teachers in Korea? Korea is a great nation".^[32] The New York Metropolitan Theater Opera News praised "her song has already risen above the criticism". Le Monde of France praised her vocals by saying that "Even fairies listen to her songs".^[33]

Jo has released over 40 albums since her European operatic debut in 1986.^[34] This list is adapted from Jo's Melon profile, her official website, and other sources as noted.^[35][36]