Julius Ahn

Versatile tenor Julius Ahn delights audiences around the world with his unique interpretations. Of his signature role, Goro in Madama Butterfly, critics hailed “As the marriage broker Goro, tenor Julius Ahn was in his element, delivering the wickedness of his character with gusto.” Mr. Ahn performed the role in his debut at San Francisco Opera and returned there to reprise it, as well as with the Canadian Opera Company, Palm Beach Opera, Vancouver Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Opera Carolina, Nashville Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City and Virginia Opera, and at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

In the 2022/23 season, Ahn was thrilled to reprise the lead role of Guang in Stuck Elevator by Byron Au Yong and Aaron Jafferis for Nashville Opera in addition to performing Borsa in Rigoletto with the Dallas Opera, Kaspar in Amahl and the Night Visitors with On Site Opera, Mime in Das Rheingold with Atlanta Opera, and Bardolf in Sir John in Love with Bard Music Festival. In his signature role of Goro in Madama Butterfly, Ahn joined the San Francisco Opera for their centennial celebratory production of the opera, as well as Atlanta Opera, Cincinnati Opera and New Orleans Opera.

The 2023/24 season’s engagements include returns to Detroit Opera and Opera Philadelphia for Madama Butterfly.

In recent seasons, Mr. Ahn joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera for performances of The Nose, Turandot, Rigoletto and Die Fledermaus, making his mainstage debut as the Second Priest in The Magic Flute. Ahn also returned to the Canadian Opera Company as Goro, joined Cincinnati Opera as Spoletta in Tosca, Gherardo in Tulsa Opera’s Gianni Schicchi, and Borsa in Opera Philadelphia’s Rigoletto. He performed in two productions with the Korean National Opera: Gastone in La Traviata and Nick in The Girl of the Golden West. He has now performed the role of Pang in Turandot in over 10 productions including with San Francisco Opera, Vancouver Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Utah Symphony & Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Pittsburgh Opera, Atlanta Opera, Tulsa Opera, Seattle Opera and Cincinnati Opera.

Previous engagements have also included Monostatos in The Magic Flute with Opera Carolina, Hawaii Opera Theatre, Michigan Opera Theatre, Opera Omaha, and the Pacific Symphony; Mark in Michael Tippett’s The Midsummer Marriage with Boston Modern Orchestra Project at Jordan Hall; and Basilio and Curzio in The Marriage of Figaro with Lyric Opera Baltimore; Bardolfo in Falstaff with Opera Omaha; and Antenore in a concert version of Rossini's Zelmira with Washington Concert Opera.

Ahn was cast in the lead role of Guang in Stuck Elevator by Byron Au Yong and Aaron Jafferis with the Sundance Institute Theatre Lab 2011 at the Banff Centre, as well as with the Sundance Institute Theatre Lab 2012 at White Oak. He performed the role in the world premiere with the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, which earned him an Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theatre (Principal Actor in a Musical) from the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle. He later reprised the role with the Arts and Ideas Festival in New Haven, Connecticut, and did so again with New York Theatre Workshop.

He portrayed Sellem in The Rake’s Progress with Princeton Festival; Bégearss in The Ghosts of Versailles with Aspen Opera Theater Center; and Demo in Cavalli’s Giasone with Chicago Opera Theater. He was also seen as Conrado in a workshop performance of Long Season by Chay Yew and Fabian Obispo, as part of Huntington Theatre Company’s Breaking Ground Festival. Ahn attended the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied with the world-renowned tenor Vinson Cole and performed a wide range of operatic roles.

Learn more at JuliusAhn.com.