2 weeks Ago By The Korea Herald
Late-blooming singer, now soloist of the Vienna State Opera, cites attention to languages as his strength Two moments changed the course of Korean baritone Park Jusung's life. The first came in his freshman year of high school, when he saw the opera “Carmen” for the first time. At the time, Park dreamed of working in media as a producer or film director, but after watching the performance he was deeply drawn to the world of opera and hoped to be involved in some way -- even though he never imagined himself as a singer.
“I didn’t think I had the voice for it,” said Park, who is the 2025 artist-in-residence at the Mapo Foundation for Arts and Culture. “It was proven that I wasn’t good at singing. I got into Yonsei University on my third try.
I never really stood out,” the 32-year-old added. Speaking at a press conference at Mapo Art Center in Seoul on Friday, Park reflected on the early struggles of his musical journey. “In college, I was even thinking about quitting.
I loved it so much and worked so hard, day and night, but no matter how much effort I put in, I just couldn’t seem to improve. Working hard doesn’t always lead to progress. But later on, I finally started to find my voice in 2020,” Park said.
That year -- the second turning point, which came in his final year of college -- Park submitted a video to the Daegu International Opera Awards, where young singers receive feedback from leading opera professionals. His video earned him an invitation to audition for the Vienna State Opera’s Opera Studio, a two-year program that supports promising talent. “The feedback I got was that ‘You don’t seem to excel at any one thing, but strangely you have charm and make an impression,’” he recalled.
Although he passed the audition right away — which he described as one of the happiest moments of his life — he chose to delay his participation in the program and instead study in Austria, hoping to further prepare himself in terms of both music and language. He took feedback about the importance of linguistic expression especially seriously — precisely because he is not a native speaker of any of the primary languages used in classical singing, such as Italian, German or French. “The lyrical nuances are very important, so I tried to focus on language,” he explained.
While studying in Austria, he achieved significant milestones: he was one of 16 finalists in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition in 2021, which was won by another Korean baritone, Kim Ki-hoon. Also in 2021, he won third place at Operalia, the prestigious competition founded by Placido Domingo, and took second place at the Helmut Deutsch Lied Competition. After the Opera Studio program, he was offered a position as a resident soloist with the Vienna State Opera.
“I feel grateful, proud and honored to be part of it,” he said. “The opera house has a huge repertoire, performing 60 operas a year. I had to do 20 roles.
I learned to quickly master my roles and perform them at a high level just as quickly,” he said. As Mapo's M Artist for 2025, he is also the first singer to be named artist-in-residence in such a program in South Korea. “I feel both excited and a bit anxious to be the first singer in this role,” Park said, adding that one reason vocalists are rarely chosen is because instrumentalists tend to have stronger ticket power.
With the position enabling him to curate his own programs, Park will offer three performances. On Wednesday, he will present pieces not frequently performed in Korea, such as Mahler’s song cycle "Des Knaben Wunderhorn" (The Youth’s Magic Horn) and Strauss’ "Zueignung" (Dedication) and "Nachtgang" (Night Walk). Following his first recital, Park will return in August for an outdoor concert titled "Mapo Saebit Concert," part of the 10th M Classic Festival.
In December, he will wrap up the M Artist series with a program focusing on German pieces such as lieder and oratorios. Alongside his performances in this year’s M Artist series and his ongoing engagements in Vienna, Park will also appear in Collegium Vocale Seoul’s production of Handel’s "Messiah." In November, he is set to take on the roles of Subhuti and the Buddha in the world premiere of "The Monkey King" at the San Francisco Opera.
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