Han, Jongwon

Bass-Baritone

Korean bass-baritone Jongwon Han is a second-year Adler Fellow with San Francisco Opera, and was the winner of the Third Prize at the 2022 Operalia World Opera Competition. The 2022-2023 season includes Han’s San Francisco Opera debut as Il Bonzo in Madama Butterfly, a Voice of the Nightwatchmen in Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten, and Colline in the company’s production of Bohème Out of the Box.

This season, Han makes his debut with Atlanta Opera as Schaunard in La bohème, having recently debuted with Dayton Opera as the bass soloist in Handel’s Messiah and Palm Beach Opera as Il Bonzo in Madama Butterfly.

In the summer of 2022, Han joined the Santa Fe Opera as an Apprentice Artist, covering the role of Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia and made his professional debut at the Vernazza Opera Festival (Cinque Terre, Italy). His operatic roles include the title roles in Don Giovanni and Le nozze di Figaro, Masetto in Don Giovanni, and Schaunard in La bohème. He has been featured in Bach’s Cantata BWV 140, Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Sparrow Mass, and Haydn’s Theresienmesse.

Han was a Grand Finalist in the 2021 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, 1st prize winner of the Vero Beach Opera Rising Stars, and 3rd place & audience choice award winner in the Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCollum Competition. In 2021, he was the recipient of the Stephen De Maio Memorial Award from the Gerda Lissner Foundation and an encouragement award winner in the Gerda Lissner Lieder Competition

Han received his Bachelor of Music Degree from Seoul National University, his master’s degree at the Mannes School of Music, and studied at The Juilliard School in the Artist Diploma in Opera Studies program.