Oliver JongJoon Kook

2nd Prize voice 2007

Laureate of the Geneva International Music Competition in 2007, Korean tenor Oliver Kook started his musical studies in his home country before pursuing them in Vienna in the class of Herhard Kahry. During this period, he also trained with Reto Nickler to gain opera skills and with Charles Spencer for Lied and Oratorio. It is in 2005, when he moved to Vienna, that his international career truly took off. In 2008, he performed Rodolfo in Puccinio’s La Bohème at the Volksoper in Vienna, and since then, has regularly collaborated with this institution. He has sung major roles such as Alfredo in Verdi’s La Traviata, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti, and Don José in Bizet’s Carmen.

At ease in both opera and operetta, he also leads a career as a soloist, regularly perform- ing with many orchestras in Russia, Europe, Korea and the United States. His vast repertoire includes Verdi’s Requiem, Puccini’s Missa di Gloria, Britten’s War Requiem and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. He also gives Lied recitals and has performed at the Musikverein in Vienna. Recent projects include Cavarodossi in Puccini’s Tosca, as well as the leading role in Umberto Giordano’s Andra Chénier.