Biography
Baritone Hansung Yoo studied classical voice at The Korean National University of Arts in Seoul, Korea. Studying under Prof. Hans Choi he received a Bachelor of Music. He continued his education at Düsseldorf Robert Schumann University under Prof. Michaela Krämer and Hamburg University of Music and Theatre. Studying under Prof. Carolyn James, he received his both his Master of Opera and Performance Diploma(Konzert Examen) of Opera.
Since the 2022/23 season, Hansung Yoo has pursued a freelance career to expand his international presence. His recent debut at the Deutsche Oper Berlin as Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde received high acclaim. In the 2025/26 season, he will make his house debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, performing the role of Ping in Turandot.
In the 2022/2023 season, he garnered outstanding reviews for two major roles: Don Carlo di Vargas in La forza del destino at Saarbrücken Staatstheater and Ping in Turandot at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, under the baton of Sir Antonio Pappano.
From 2013 to 2022, Hansung Yoo was a member of the ensemble at the Staatstheater Kassel, where he performed a wide array of roles, including Papageno in The Magic Flute, Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus, Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Shaunard and Marcello in La Bohème, Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette, the title role in Eugene Onegin, Pierrot Fritz in Die tote Stadt, Conte di Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, Carlo Gerard in Andrea Chénier, Alfio in Cavalleria rusticana, Tonio in I Pagliacci, Kurwenal in Tristan and Isolde, Gunther in Götterdämmerung and Scarpia in Tosca.
His other notable performances include Sharpless in Madama Butterfly at Staatstheater Nürnberg, Amfortas in Parsifal at Theater Koblenz, and Count Luna in Il Trovatore. Yoo also took on the title role of Rigoletto in a spectacular production at the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress in Koblenz
Hansung Yoo’s latest competitions were the 2014 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels where he was a finalist and the prestigious International Tchaikovsky Competition in 2015, where he placed 3rd.
He has won many significant competitions throughout his career. He won the 2008 International Vocal Competition in ’s-Hertogenbosch (Netherlands), as well as 5 additional awards there. Also in 2008 he was a finalist at the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in Leipzig. He finished in 2nd place at the European Opera Singing Competition DEBUT in Weikersheim (Germany) in 2010, as well as winning the International Opera Singing Competition of Marmande (France) in 2011. In the same year Mr. Yoo won the International Music Competition in Cologne as well as placing 2nd and winning the Audience Prize at the 2012 ARD International Music Competition in Munich.
Hansung Yoo has worked with conductors such as Sir Antonio Pappano, Keri-Lynn Wilson, Sir Donald Runnicles, Daniele Callegari, Patrik Ringborg, Constantin Trinks, Antony Hermus, Anja Bihlmaier and Francesco Angelico. Among other colleagues, they have praised his performing abilities but also his energetic and collegiate personality.