Kangmin Justin Kim is one of the most sought-after countertenors of today and has made a name for himself worldwide in Baroque repertory, contemporary music and Mozart roles.
In summer 2022 the French citizen performed the role of Song Liling in the world premiere of Huang Ruo’s M. Butterfly at the Santa Fe Opera. Previously, in 2019, he caused a sensation when he became the first male interpreter of the role of Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro) in the history of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
Engagements in the 2025/26 season will include his debut at the Zurich Opera House as Sesto in a new production of Giulio Cesare, Despina (Così fan tutte) at the Hamburg State Opera, Ruggiero (Alcina) at the Brno National Theatre, the role of the painter in the Vivaldi pasticcio The Seasons for Opera Philadelphia and a concert as part of the American Songbook series at New York’s Lincoln Center.
In recent years, Kangmin Justin Kim has made house debuts at the Hamburg State Opera as Sesto (La clemenza di Tito), at the Dallas Opera as Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel) and at the Opéra du Rhin in Strasbourg as Nerone (L’incoronazione di Poppea). Recently he also sang Sesto (Giulio Cesare) at the Vienna State Opera and the Opéra de Monte-Carlo and in concert in Luxembourg, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Cologne, Ruggiero in Vivaldi’s Orlando furioso at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Song Liling in a concert performance of M. Butterfly at London’s Barbican Centre and the Witch in Hänsel und Gretel in Wiesbaden.
His past engagements have also included Nerone at the Berlin State Opera, the 2018 Salzburg Festival, the Teatro La Fenice and in New York, Paris, Berlin and Chicago, Annio (La clemenza di Tito) at the Theater an der Wien, Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus) at the Cologne Opera, Orfeo in Handel’s Parnasso in festa, Epitide in Giacomelli’s La Merope and Amanzio in Vivaldi’s Il Giustino at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and Ottone in Vivaldi’s La Griselda, Gilade in Vivaldi’s Farnace and Hyacinthus in Mozart’s Apollo et Hyacinthus at the Teatro La Fenice. He made his debuts at the Vienna State Opera in Henze’s Das verratene Meer, at Glyndebourne Festival in Giulio Cesare and at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples in Britten’s Canticles.
Kangmin Justin Kim was born in South Korea and grew up in Chicago. He studied at Northwestern University in Evanston and at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Appearances soon after his professional operatic debut in 2013 included Orlofsky at the Opéra-Comique and Oreste (La Belle Hélène) at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.
