- Professor Hong Moves from New York Metropolitan Opera to New Stage at Yonsei University

Acclaimed opera soprano Hong Hei-kyung, a mainstay at the New York Metropolitan Opera for nearly thirty years, has been appointed professor in the Yonsei College of Music.  Professor Hong is leaving the center of the opera world in order to dedicate herself to training the next generation of top Korean vocalists. After graduating from the Juilliard School of Music in New York, Hong won the 1982 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions; before making her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1984, she was one of four youngsingers invited to attend Herbert von Karajan’s opera classes at the 1983 Salzburg Festival.  In addition to her performances at the Metropolitan Opera, Hong has had leading roles with a number of world-renowned opera companies in North America and Europe, while also singing with top North American orchestras, most notably the New York Philharmonic.  She has been a featured soloist on national television in the United States and Canada, and, under the sponsorship of the 1988 Winter Olympics Committee, she sang with the Calgary Philharmonic.  Professor Hong will assume her teaching post at Yonsei in March.