Sumi Hwang (; born 25 January 1986) is a South Korean

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

Early life and education

Hwang was born in

Yecheon Yecheon County is a county in the province of North Gyeongsang, South Korea. It is 661 km2 in area, and in 2004 had a population of 52,311. It has lost over 2/3 of its inhabitants since the mid-1960s. It consists of twelve administrativ ...

, South Korea. She studied at the

Seoul National University Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a national public research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1946, Seoul National University is largely considered the most prestigious university in South Korea; it is one of the three "S ...

where she received both her bachelor's and master's degrees in music. In 2011 she moved to Europe and completed the postgraduate course at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München.

Career

Her singing talent was recognized in a church choir and she was encouraged to take singing lessons. In 2012, Hwang won second prize in the ARD International Music Competition in Munich, Germany. That year, Hwang also was award first prize at the Grandi Voci in Salzburg. In 2013, she also received first prize at the Anneliese Rothenberger Competition. In May 2014, Sumi Hwang won the first prize in the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Belgium. Later that year, she made her United States debut at the Phillips Collection. She joined the ensemble of

Theater Bonn Theater Bonn (also known as the Stadttheater Bonn) is the municipal theatre company of Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is an organization that produces operas, musicals, ballets, plays, and concerts. It operates several performance ...

since September 2014. She performed the Olympic Hymn, singing in Greek, at the opening ceremony of the

2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...

Pyeongchang Pyeongchang (; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ; ) is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa. It is about east southeast of Seou ...

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hwang, Sumi 1986 births Living people People from Yecheon County Seoul Arts High School alumni Seoul National University alumni University of Music and Performing Arts Munich alumni Prize-winners of the Queen Elisabeth Competition South Korean operatic sopranos 21st-century South Korean women singers 21st-century women opera singers