Kyu
Choi Baritone

South Korean baritone Kyu Choi studied at the Korea National University of Arts and the Royal Academy of Music, where he completed his Master's degree with Mark Wildman and Ingrid Surgenor. With the support of the Independent Opera, the Charles Mackerras Opera Scholarship, the Stokes Scholarship, the Henry Wood Award and the Josephine Baker Trust, he continued his studies for his Advanced Diploma at the Royal Academy Opera. He was a member of the Opera Studio of the National Opera, London. In opera, he has sung leading roles such as the title role in 'Don Giovanni', Le Podestat in Bizet's 'Le docteur Miracle' and Dr Falke in 'Die Fledermaus' in Berlin. His most recent competition successes include 1st prize at the N. Obukhova International Singing Competition in Russia (2018), the Pavarotti Prize (2019), the Joaninha Prize (2019), 2nd prize at the Clonter Opera Prize (2019) and the Opera Prize at the Mozart Singing Competition (2017). He was also a finalist at the International Wilhelm Stenhammer Music Competition in Sweden (2018). In the 2020/21 season, he was a member of OperAvenir at Theater Basel. His numerous roles in Basel include Brother Rufin ('Saint François d'Assise'), Speaker ('Die Zauberflöte'), Marco ('Gianni Schicchi'), Baron Douphol ('La traviata'), Doctor ('Die Nase'), Figaro ('Il barbiere di Siviglia'), Marullo ('Rigoletto') as well as Algerino ('Intolleranza 1960') and Escamillo ('Carmen').