ABOUT
John Kun Park...
A Korean-American Tenor from Los Angeles, CA, John has been describe as “a promising, rich dramatic voice,” “that floats his high notes with ease and emotional fervor.
John will be covering the title role Canio, I Pagliacci, with Opera Tampa in March 2023, and be debuting as Rick in John Adams’ “I was looking at the ceiling and then I saw the sky,” with InSeries Opera for 7 performances in Baltimore and Washington D.C. in April 2023.
John began 2022 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic covering the role of Florestan in Beethoven’s Fidelio for their collaboration with Deaf West Theatre. Then John joined the Chautauqua Opera’s summer season where he covered the role of Mario Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca, and sang the role of John Adams in Gertrude Stein & Virgil Thompson’s The Mother of us All.
The 2021 season began digitally for John, with being placed as a semi-finalist for the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. He also participated in the Annapolis Opera Vocal Competition, where he was placed as a finalist and received an Encouragement Award. John's postponed contract with Des Moines Metro Opera was fulfilled and spent the summer performing in their summer season where he covered both Adolfo Pirelli and Beadle Bamford in Sondheim's Sweeney Todd. In October, John joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic to workshop Beethoven's Fidelio in collaboration with Deaf West Theater, and will be returning to workshop the role of Florestan in March 2022.
John began 2020 with a debut in Southern California as the title role of Faust in Gounod’s Faust with former Center Stage Opera, now Valley Opera & Performing Arts. He appeared as a guest artist with the Palm Springs Opera Guild in concert in March, and was supposed to join Des Moines Metro Opera as an Apprentice Artist this summer, but was postponed due to COVID-19 to 2021. He was announced as a semi-finalist of the prestigious McCammon Voice Competition in partner with Fort Worth Opera which was also cancelled due to COVID-19. John was featured as a guest artist with Opera San Luis Obispo in their virtual recital series in October to conclude the year, and continues to keep busy creating virtual content.
John began 2019 with his return to Sarasota Opera’s season as a Studio Artist, covering Ismaele in Verdi's Nabucco, the Emperor in Puccini’s Turandot, and debuting as Monostatos in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. He made debut with Pittsburgh Festival Opera as the First King in Richard Strauss’ Die Liebe der Danae, and covered Siegmund in Richard Wagner’s Die Walküre. He concluded 2019 by joining West Bay Opera in his mainstage debut of Ismaele in Nabucco in the Fall.
John was invited as an Apprentice Artist in the beginning of 2018 for Sarasota Opera’s Winter season, where he was awarded the Mary Cook Award for an Outstanding Apprentice Artist. He debuted with Long Beach Opera for their production of Frank Martin’s Le vin herbé in May, and returned to Sarasota Opera for their fall production of Il Barbiere di Sveglia.
The 2016-17 season found John in his final year of Professional Artist Certification at the Mannes School. He was the tenor soloist in Händel's Messiah in Manhasset, NY, and then appeared as Anatol with Mannes Opera in their Spring production of Barber's Vanessa. He placed as one of six finalists for the New Jersey State Opera's Alfredo Silipigni competition shortly thereafter. John was invited to Central City Opera as an Apprentice Artist for their esteemed Bonfils-Stanton Young Artist Program. He was cast as the cover of Don José for the season of Bizet's Carmen, and debuted as Don José for the company's Apprentice production.
The summer of 2016 found John in the Dolomites of Italy, appearing as Don José in Bizet's Carmen under Music Academy International's affiliation of the Trentino Music Festival. He appeared a finalist in New York's Joy of Singing competition in the Spring of 2016, and covered Don José for Venture Opera's winter production of Carmen.
During his time at SUNY Purchase, John appeared as Le Prince Charmant in Massenet's Cendrillon, Eisenstein in J. Strauss' Die Fledermaus, and Lysander in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream. His studies while in Los Angeles found John appearing as Des Grieux in Massenet's Manon, and B.F. Pinkerton in Puccini's Madama Butterfly under the Opera Gang company.