Photo: Jo Su-mi, c. 2015. Credit: Busan International Film Festival.
On Aug 7, 63-year-old Jo Su-mi 조수미 became the first Asian winner of the Maria Callas Prize, named for the renowned opera singer and awarded to a soprano with distinguished lifetime achievement. This year marks the 40th anniversary of Jo’s 1986 debut as Gilda in Rigoletto.
Born in 1962 in Changwon, Gyeongsangnam-do Province 경상남도 창원, Jo was a child prodigy who began playing piano at age 4. After attending the Seoul National University 국립서울대학교, Jo studied at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Italy, where she passed her entrance audition as a vocalist while also playing the piano accompaniment for all 50 applicants in her group. In 1993, Jo became the first Korean winner of the Grammy Award, which she won in the category of Best Opera Recording.
At the press conference for the Callas Prize, Jo said becoming a world-class singer meant giving up love and friendship. "No men approach me. I have no friends," she said, urging younger singers to continue showing trust and kindness to those around them. Jo will hold retrospective concerts on September 4 and 8 in Seoul to look back on the 40-year journey of her career.
