Biography — Soprano Hera Hyesang Park

“…her singing as Rossini’s determinedly provocative heroine Rosina is indeed phenomenal, especially as she started out to some eyes — well, my eyes — only acting like an alluring spitfire rather than actually being one.” Geoff Brown, The Times

Praised for her “radiant, seemingly effortless singing” (The Times) with “a sense of pure joy and excitement” (OperaWire), soprano Hera Hyesang Park is celebrated not only for her exquisite voice and stagecraft, but for the profound ideas embodied in her work. Hailing from South Korea and trained at The Juilliard School, she infuses her music with a cosmopolitan perspective that blends her Korean heritage and Western life experiences in a style she describes as “traditional but uncommon”: open to learn from both classical and modern attitudes to life and art. Her lyric coloratura voice carries both immaculate technique and a seemingly infinite variety of tonal colors, combining in a fearless and captivating stage presence. Central to her music is a powerful drive for empathy and understanding, challenging discrimination and stereotypes of all kinds. Live performance and recordings represent, for Park, an act of self-discovery and a means of heartfelt, emotionally honest connection with others.

In the 2024-2025 season, Park will be featured in a variety of operatic roles, concert performances and recitals, including her highly anticipated debuts with the LA Philharmonic in a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, led by Gustavo Dudamel, with Boston Baroque in Haydn’s The Creation, led by Martin Pearlman; as Despina in Così fan tutte at Edinburgh’s International Festival with Maxim Emelyanychev and her return to San Diego Symphony with Raphael Payare in a Mozart gala celebration. In other engagements, she performs with the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo, led by Sascha Goetzel; the Wiener Symphoniker for Mozart and Mahler, conducted by Petr Popelka; the Solti gala concert at the Hungarian State Opera, led by János Kovács; and a concert with the Orchestre National de Bordeaux Aquitaine, led by Sora Elisabeth Lee. Later in the season, she takes on the role of Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni at Staatsoper Hamburg, and returns to the Metropolitan Opera as Pamina in The Magic Flute. In recital, she appears in South Korea to celebrate a new Gangneung album and returns to London in recital, this time at St. John’s Smith’s Square.

During the 2023-2024 season, Park released her second album, Breathe, on Deutsche Grammophon to rave reviews. Textura called it “intoxicating,” and The Classic Review praised “Park’s leonine and lean sound, with clear diction and an evenness of projection across her vocal range.” In conjunction with the release, she performed repertoire from the album at 2024 Seoul Fashion Week and in recital at Seoul’s Lotte Concert Hall and Argentina’s Teatro Colón. Bringing together operatic classics by Rossini, Verdi and Massenet with contemporary works by Luke Howard, Cecilia Livingston, Hyowon Woo and Bernat Vivancos, the new recording celebrates courage in the face of life’s struggles, exploring how we survive and emerge victorious from our most difficult times. Park signed an exclusive agreement with Deutsche Grammophon in May 2020.

Early 2024 highlights also included a gala concert with the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, at David Geffen Hall. She sang the role of Despina in the Opera de Paris production of Così fan tutte and performed recitals with pianist Andrés Sarre at the Palacio Municipal de Álamos, Mexico, and with pianist Bretton Brown for two dates in the UK: at London’s Barbican Centre and Manchester’s Stoller Hall. She made her debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Mo. Edward Gardner in Mozart’s Mass in C minor, and held a mini-residency at Cedars Hall, Somerset.

In the course of her fast-rising career, Park has taken the stage at venues from the Metropolitan Opera to Glyndebourne Festival. Her opera roles have included Rosina in the Glyndebourne Festival’s 2019 production of Il barbiere di Siviglia (a performance described by The Times of London as “phenomenal”) and Musetta in Barrie Kosky’s production of La bohème at Komische Oper Berlin. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 2017 as the First Wood Sprite in Rusalka and made successful returns as Amore in Mark Morris’s staging of Orfeo ed Euridice, Pamina in The Magic Flute and Nannetta in Falstaff. She sang the role of Violetta Valéry in the 2020 world premiere of 7 Deaths of Maria Callas, Marina Abramović’s pioneering opera project for the Bayerische Staatsoper, reprising the role at Opera de Paris in 2021. Other key roles have included Adina in Donizetti’s L’Elisir D’Amore at Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, Despina in Così fan tutte at Bayerische Staatsoper, Aldimira in Rossini’s Sigismondo with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester, and two additional roles at Glyndebourne Festival: Despina in Così fan tutte and Susanna in le nozze di Figaro. She has also performed as a soloist in concert with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and the Los Angeles Opera, and in a performance of Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem at Leipzig’s Thomaskirche.

Park’s first album, I am Hera, was released digitally in November 2020, with a physical release in January 2021, both on Deutsche Grammophon. Curating a selection of works near and dear to her heart, Park recorded pieces by Bellini, Gluck, Handel, Mozart, Pergolesi, Puccini and Rossini alongside works by Korean composers Joowon Kim and Un-Yung La, including the latter’s uplifting setting of Psalm 23. “Instead of making myself perform a list of songs that might impress others, I decided to take a chance on myself and perform songs that resonate with my core values,” Park told OperaWire in May 2020. “I feel my purpose is to make the world a little better by living a healthy life and knowing that the talent I have been given is in essence meant to bring more light to the world.”

Recognized as a standout talent from an early age, Park studied at Seoul National University before earning her two-year Artist Diploma in Opera Studies at the Juilliard School in 2015. Soon afterward, she was selected for the Metropolitan Opera’s prestigious Lindemann Young Artist Development Programmade her international breakthrough in 2015, when she was named among the winners at Plácido Domingo’s Operalia, The World Opera Competition. She went on to win first prize at the Gerda Lissner Foundation International Competition in 2016 and the coveted Hildegard Behrens Foundation Award in 2018. Her flair for fashion subsequently caught the eye of Vogue Editor in Chief Dame Anna Wintour, who chose the Giambattista Valli gown that Park wore to New York’s Met Gala in 2018.