From: Seoul, South Korea. LA Opera: Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly (2024, debut).
Karah Son graduated in voice at the Yonsei University in Seoul, her native city. She then completed her musical education graduating from the Vivaldi Music Conservatory in Novara (Italy) and attending the Academy of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan under the guidance of Mirella Freni.
She distinguished herself in numerous international competitions: first prize at the national competition organized by Korea Joongang Daily, one of South Korea’s most important newspapers, in Seoul; first prize at the “Vissi D’Arte” international competition in Milan; Special Soroptimist Prize at the G.B. Viotti international competition in Vercelli (Italy); Premio Extraordinario at the Francisco Viñas international competition in Barcelona; second prize at the Opéra de Marseille international Competition. In 2007, she also won the prestigious Nicolai Ghiaurov scholarship.
She made her debut in 1997 as the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro at the National Theater in Seoul. She has since performed Zerlina in Don Giovanni at the Teatro San Lorenzo in Milan; Mimì in La Bohème at the Teatro Cristallo in Bergamo, in Milan and at the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari; Liù in Turandot in Verona (Teatro Filarmonico), in Bologna, in Nancy and the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia (Lorin Mazel conducting).
She has appeared in Zandonai’s Francesca da Rimini at the Opéra in Monte-Carlo; Aida in Korea and in Halle; La Bohème in Sydney, Turandot in Melbourne; and Verdi’s Requiem in Seoul. She has performed the title role in Madama Butterfly in Korea, Tampere, Warsaw, Leipzig, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Gothenburg, Turin, Glyndebourne, Dresden, Cardiff, Sydney, Warsaw, Turin, Kansas City, Stuttgart, Montpellier, Bologna, Angers, Nantes, Rennes, San Francisco, Cincinnati and Detroit, with additional performances in the 2023/24 season in Copenhagen. She recently appeared in Nikodijević's 7 Deaths of Maria Callas with English National Opera.
