Praised as a singer of “exquisite clarity” and “virtuosity,” lyric soprano Misook Yun has performed in Italy, Austria, South Korea, and the United States. An accomplished operatic performer, Yun has appeared in the roles of Mimi and Nedda with Opera Western Reserve, Cio Cio San with Bayshore Lyric Opera, Tosca and Santuzza with Valley Lyric Opera, and Micaela with the Warren Philharmonic Orchestra.
As a concert soloist, Yun’s major performances include Chants d’Auvergne, Elijah, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Fauré’s Requiem, Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5, Schubert’s Mass in G, Mozart’s Requiem and Magnificat, and Handel’s Messiah. She has given solo recitals in Oregon, Virginia, Mississippi, Arkansas, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Yun will be soloist in Fauré’s Requiem with the Salem Chamber Orchestra (Oregon) in March.
Yun won first prize in the Metropolitan Opera Competition in the Oregon District and first prize in the Paul and Lillian Petri Music-Study Scholarship competition. In the summer of 2004, Yun was one of 12 singers selected from throughout North America to participate in the National Association of Teachers of Singing Intern Program. Yun is an associate professor at the Dana School of Music, Youngstown State University.
What were some influential experiences in your youth that led you to a career in music?
Two things: I started singing in a youth choir in the third grade at my hometown church. When I was in high school, our high school had a vocal competition every year. One year I entered the competition, and the adjudicator (who was a well-known soprano and professor at a women’s college) encouraged me to study voice. That event finally convinced my parents to let me take voice lessons.
What are your goals for the next five years?
I would like to sing more opera roles and oratorio as well as give a solo and chamber music recital tour on a national level sometime during the next five years.
What has been your career highlight to this point?
Singing the role of Cio Cio San.
What is your favorite part about being an opera singer?
Being able to work with interesting people: singers, conductors, stage directors, and so on. More importantly, I love playing a variety of personalities that are totally opposite from my own.
If you could sing any one role, what would it be?
Leonora from Il trovatore.
How do you handle rejection?
You win some; you lose some. When it comes to singers, everybody has a different preference. If I don’t win a role or competition, it could be because of my voice, interpretation, look, or anything else. You can’t take it personally. Even so, it’s always disappointing to lose.
How do you balance career and family?
I am fortunate to have a musician husband who understands and is supportive of what I do, so I haven’t had much of problem so far. Now, our first child just arrived at the end of September, so we’ve had to learn a new set of rules.
Mezzo-soprano Veronica McHale recently returned from her second season with Muddy River Opera, where she performed the role of Katisha (The Mikado). Other Gilbert and Sullivan roles include Little Buttercup (HMS Pinafore) with both Arizona Broadway Theater and Muddy River Opera, and The Duchess of Plaza-Toro (The Gondoliers) with Chautauqua Opera. McHale performed the Abbess (Suor Angelica) with Chautauqua Opera, Mama Lucia (Cavalleria Rusticana) with Tulsa Opera, the Russian Nanny (Death in Venice) with Chicago Opera Theater, and Marcellina (Le nozze di Figaro) with San Francisco Opera Merola. McHale has also performed Marcellina with Chamber Opera Chicago and the Chicago Cultural Center. With the Chicago Cultural Center Opera, Veronica has also appeared as the Sorceress (Dido and Aeneas), the Old Woman (Candide), and the Mother/China Cup/Owl (Ravel’s The Bewitched Child).
McHale was an apprentice artist with Chautauqua Opera, Chicago Opera Theater and San Francisco’s Merola program. She is a 2004 and 2005 Metropolitan Opera Guild Regional Finalist, winner of the 2005 Chicago Opera Society Scholarship as well as the 2006 Chautauqua Opera Guild Apprentice Award. This summer she performed La Zia Principessa (Suor Angelica) and La Ciesca (Gianni Schicchi) with Union Avenue Opera. In the fall she will premiere a song cycle by Seth Boustead, an up-and-coming Chicago composer and the director of Accessible Contemporary Music.
What were some influential experiences in your youth that led you to a career in music?
My big influences were my mother and the South Suburban Opera Club. From a young age my mother was always the local star soprano and recognized my obsession to be the next Madonna. She knew that I would probably have to go another route in music, so she dragged me to every community opera program that would take in a 16-year-old, clueless singer. Those years really helped me to overcome any stage fright I might of had and were a huge influence for my love of performing.
What are your goals for the next five years? The next 10 years?
My goal is to work as an opera singer for as long as I can. I would also like to finally figure out my top—it is a mystery to me!
What has been your career highlight to this point?
Getting a feature in Classical Singer.
What is your favorite part about being an opera singer?
My favorite part is becoming someone else through song. There is also no greater rush to me then being on a stage with an orchestra and singing your heart out. Whether it is drama or comedy, it is amazing!
If you could sing any one role, what would it be?
Delilah. What an amazing tour de force. My dream role by far.
What was your worst moment in the theater?
After a performance of The Barber of Seville, right before the curtain call, there was a black out and I had to run to the side of the stage for my bow. Well, one of the props wasn’t cleared and I fell over it and landed on a prop ladder on stage. All of a sudden you hear this horrible loud thud and then an obscenity or two. When the light went up and the curtain opened there I was limping to the center for my bow. My knee swelled up to the size of a melon.
How do you handle rejection?
I have created a list of all the Young Artist Programs and opera companies that have rejected me and every time a get a new rejection letter, I simply say, “Well, they are definitely going on my list!” Needless to say, you need a sense of humor in this business and not take things so personally.
What has happened in your career that made you feel like you’ve “made it”? Or, what needs to happen in your career for you to feel that you’re finally made it?
I feel I will always be reaching for that star. I guess if I am hired to sing Delilah at the Met, then I can feel closer to that goal. I am not sure if there will ever be a day when I can sit back and say, “Yep, I’ve made it!”
