Since her Metropolitan Opera debut in 2007, Kathleen Kim’s international profile has continued to rise with consistent critical acclaim reflecting the excitement she generates at many of the world’s premiere opera houses and concert halls.
Kathleen Kim has been recognized with numerous prizes and awards, including a Sullivan Foundation Award, Sarasota Opera Guild’s Leo Rogers Scholarship, and the Rose Ann Grund Scholarship of the Union League Civic & Arts Foundation voice competition in Chicago.
She was a prize winner of the Mario Lanza Competition, a National Finalist of the MacAllister Awards, and a prize winner of the Liederkranz Competition.
A graduate of the Ryan Opera Center of the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Ms.
Kim appeared during her apprenticeship as Adele in Die Fledermaus, First Priestess in Iphigénie en Tauride, Page in Rigoletto, Milliner in Der Rosenkavalier, and Frasquita in Carmen.
She received her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from Manhattan School of Music.
In February 1972, the American president Richard Nixon went to China to meet Mao Zedong. In the context of the war in Vietnam and the cold war, this encounter marked a turning point in Chinese‑American relations. John Adams, a major musical figure of the last forty years, made this event of contemporary history the subject of his first opera. Nixon in China tackles the political thaw instigated by ping-pong diplomacy, begun by the invitation of the American table tennis players by their Chinese counterparts, one year before the presidential visit. A mesmerising work in which the pulsations and repetitions typical of minimalism are combined with melodic lines of great lyricism. For its entry into the Paris Opera repertoire, this work has been entrusted to the director Valentina Carrasco, who underlines the importance and the mediating power of Chinese national sport in history.
Renée Fleming makes her highly anticipated return to the Met in the world-premiere production of Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Kevin Puts’s The Hours, adapted from Michael Cunningham’s acclaimed novel. Inspired by Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway and made a household name by the Oscar-winning 2002 film version starring Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, and Nicole Kidman, the powerful story follows three women from different eras who each grapple with their inner demons and their roles in society. The exciting premiere radiates with star power, with Kelli O’Hara and Joyce DiDonato joining Fleming as the opera’s trio of heroines. Phelim McDermott directs this compelling drama, with Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin on the podium to conduct Puts’s poignant and powerful score.