South Korean baritone Joo Won Kang has been described as a “vocal powerhouse” (Schmopera) and “a most impressive Germont” (Opera News). His 2023–24 season included two roles at the Metropolitan Opera, Ping in Turandot and Marcello in La bohème, and the role of his Met debut in 2021. The past season also included his Canadian Opera Company debut as Marcello, and a return to Minnesota Opera in that same role. His 2022–23 season included Germont in La traviata at Seattle Opera. He made his debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, both in Boston and at Carnegie Hall, singing in Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, concerts that were recorded for release on Deutsche Grammophon. He has appeared in leading roles such as Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Papageno in The Magic Flute, Dandini in La Cenerentola, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, and the title role in Eugene Onegin with companies including San Francisco Opera, Seattle Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Arizona Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, and Utah Opera. He sang the role of Chou En-lai in John Adams’s Nixon in China with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by the composer, and made his New York City Opera debut as Manfredo in L’amore dei tre re. At the Wexford Festival in Ireland, he sang leading roles in two rarely performed operas: Donizetti’s Maria de Rudenz and Franco Leoni’s L’Oracolo. He is a top prize winner in vocal competitions including the Gerda Lissner Foundation, Opera Index, Giulio Gari International Competition, and the McCammon Competition.