Sumi Jo to Embark on Nationwide Tour with June 'In Love' Concert

Soprano Jo Sumi will meet domestic fans through performances of songs from her album 'IN LOVE'.

Starting on June 8 at Gongju Arts Center, Jo Sumi will perform songs from her album 'IN LOVE', released last December, on stages at Dangjin Arts Center on the 10th, Ulsan Culture & Arts Center on the 25th, Seongnam Arts Center on the 29th, and Cheongju Arts Center on July 2.

The concert will be conducted by Choi Young-sun, featuring the Millennium Symphony Orchestra, tenor Kim Hyun-soo from Forte di Quattro, and haegeum player Park Soo-ah sharing the stage.

For the past 37 years, Jo Sumi has consistently included Korean songs in her programs on stages worldwide, expressing her affection for her homeland. In 1995, her album 'Arirang' was the first to include Korean art songs.

Her first pure Korean art song collection, 'Hyangsu', released in 2002, has been loved by many art song fans. While Korean art songs at that time tended to be emotional and subjectively interpreted, Jo Sumi was praised for presenting the lyrics and melodies as they are and offering a clean musical world.

Also well known is the story that in 1994, the world-renowned music label ERATO included the Korean-titled song 'Boribat' (Barley Field) in Jo Sumi’s solo album 'Prima Donna', released worldwide.

Jo Sumi began crossing between classical and crossover genres in earnest with the great success of her 2000 album 'ONLY LOVE'. In 2015, she released the album 'Geurida', which arranged popular Korean songs in a classical style, receiving much love.

Having maintained her position as the world’s top prima donna for over 30 years, Jo Sumi achieved leading roles at the world’s five major opera houses before the age of 30, was the first Asian to win six international competitions, the first Asian to receive the Golden Goose Award (Best Soprano), and the first Asian to win a Grammy Award (Classical category). She is also the only non-Italian to receive the International Puccini Award.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.