'Five attempts, a choir, a last-ditch chance': Three Korean basses find their footing in Berlin [Interview]

National Opera Studio–Deutsche Oper exchange program

Kim Geon, Noh Min-hyung and Choi Young go straight to an A-list house

Monthly stipend of about 3,000 euros eases financial pressure

From last-minute stand-ins to full-run castings

Singers Choi Young, Noh Min-hyung and Kim Geon, all alumni of the National Opera Studio, were selected for the Deutsche Oper Berlin exchange program. [National Opera Company of Korea]

The world outside the conservatory was unforgiving. Opportunities on stage were desperately needed but rarely came. The slow climb upward felt endless.

Baritone Kim Geon, 30, studied voice at Seoul National University. After graduating, he spent his days punching numbers into a calculator, trying to figure out how to afford studying abroad. No matter how he trimmed the budget, the costs were overwhelming. He eventually set aside his singing career altogether. The more he tallied up monthly rent, phone bills and electricity, the more it felt "completely out of reach," he recalled. During that period, he spent more than a year and a half making the rounds of auditions for ensemble roles in large-scale musicals.

Bass Noh Min-hyung, 30, faced rejection before he even got started. University entrance auditions — the first hurdle for any aspiring singer — turned him away again and again. It was only while serving in the military reserves that he finally passed the entrance exam to Hanyang University on his fifth attempt. Bass Choi Young, 31, spent his school years haunted by a sense of inadequacy — convinced he simply could not sing — and set his sights no higher than joining a choir. He scraped by as a guest member of a regional municipal choir, earning a few hundred thousand won per session, barely keeping his connection to music alive.

Their stories bore little resemblance to the polished elite narratives that typically accompany successful opera singers. All three said a "miracle of an opportunity arrived just when we were standing at the edge of a cliff." What linked them — each shaped by a different kind of failure — was the National Opera Company of Korea's youth education program, the National Opera Studio. Using it as a springboard, all three went directly to the stage of Deutsche Oper Berlin, one of Germany's three great opera houses and a pillar of the European classical music mainstream. Starting with Kim in the 2024–2025 season, followed by Noh and then Choi last month, each has taken his turn as the protagonist of the exchange program, performing on the home turf of opera itself.

Choi Young performing the role of the Armchair in the National Opera Studio's 2025 production of "L'Enfant et les Sortilèges." [National Opera Company of Korea]

Meeting the three recently at the National Opera Company of Korea's rehearsal room in Seocho-dong, Seoul, they all agree: the National Opera Studio was the single greatest turning point of their lives.

A radical ladder that broke the 'study abroad, win a competition' formula

"I applied to the National Opera Studio like a drowning man grabbing at a straw." — Kim Geon

Kim was the first product of the National Opera Studio's exchange program with Deutsche Oper Berlin. For Korean vocal students, the path to Europe had long followed a well-worn script: graduate from a music conservatory, head to Germany or Italy for a master's degree or advanced performance course, and simultaneously win an international competition to land a spot in the opera studio of a mid-sized regional theater. The partnership between the National Opera Company of Korea and Deutsche Oper Berlin turned that ladder completely upside down.

Each year, a casting director from the German theater flies to Korea to hold a closed audition for young members of the National Opera Studio. Those who pass go directly into the soloist ensemble of a top-tier European "A-list house" — no study-abroad program, no master's degree required. On top of that, a monthly stipend of about 3,000 euros ($3,430), split equally between the National Opera Company of Korea and Deutsche Oper Berlin, provides a solid financial safety net that lets young artists focus entirely on their craft without worrying about making ends meet.

Reflecting on that time, Kim said: "If you start out at a regional B- or C-list theater in Germany, it's nearly impossible to move up to an A-list house — even if you're talented — because connections and timing have to align perfectly. Starting my career at a major house like Deutsche Oper was something I never even dared to imagine."

Kim Geon performing the lead role of Rodrigo in Deutsche Oper Berlin's 2026 production of "Don Carlo." [National Opera Company of Korea]

Noh nodded along as Kim spoke. The National Opera Studio had given him an unexpected launching pad. Unlike the conventional path — where awards and prestigious titles were the price of admission — potential was the most valued currency here. "All the young singers who were making a name for themselves that year were trying out — it was the audition everyone wanted to get into," Noh said. "They didn't just look at your competition record; they watched you perform live and assessed your future potential. That's how a lot of rough diamonds with unfamiliar names got discovered."

For all three, the opportunity came when they were at their lowest. Kim applied as a last resort, just as he was about to quit singing for good — he had stumbled across the audition notice on Instagram and submitted his application on a whim. Noh failed the studio's entrance audition several times before getting in on his fourth attempt. Choi, who was working as a guest member of the Asan Municipal Choir at the time, said he applied because a colleague mentioned entering. "I thought, why not just tag along and give it a shot," he recalled.

The studio offered members one-on-one lessons, masterclasses, and courses in language and acting, as well as opportunities to perform in minor roles in the National Opera Company's regular productions. Kim highlighted the strength of the curriculum: "In a typical vocal masterclass, the focus tends to stay on technique and tone. At the studio, you work with conductors to analyze the musical arc and learn how to bring a character to life convincingly onstage."

According to the National Opera Company of Korea, the program started small — accepting around eight students per cohort in the vocal track alone. It has since expanded to include conducting, music coaching, directing and stage design, and now selects around 90 participants a year. "Outstanding peers pushed each other forward, and our skills improved a great deal in a short time," Choi said.

Noh Min-hyung performing in the world premiere of "Violanta" at Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2026. [Photo by Marcus Lieberenz]

Surviving a punishing repertory theater — from last-minute stand-in to full-run casting

There was no time to savor the romance of Berlin. Deutsche Oper Berlin is, alongside the Vienna State Opera and the Bavarian State Opera, one of the world's most prolific repertory theaters. In its 1,859-seat house, two or three entirely different productions rotate through the stage every week without pause.

Kim described the backstage scene: "If the set for Sunday's performance is on the main stage, the set for Monday's show is waiting on the left, and the one going up four days later is already standing by on the right."

With a schedule that relentless, conditions at the theater are always in flux. The stories of survival at Deutsche Oper read like battle tales. "One day I slept three hours, ran two morning rehearsals, had a diction coaching session, caught a quick nap in the dressing room and then went onstage for a four-hour performance of 'The Marriage of Figaro' that evening," Noh said, shaking his head. At school, he noted, staging a single opera twice after a month of preparation left singers spent — yet in just two months, from December last year through January, he performed 21 times in Berlin.

Amid the relentless schedule, he made a point of saying yes to every opportunity. "Whenever I ran into the theater director in the hallway, he would suddenly ask if I could take on one more cover role — and I never turned him down once," Noh recalled. Over the course of one season, he covered or stood by for as many as 15 to 16 roles — among them the Flemish Deputies in "Don Carlo," the Customs Sergeant in "La Bohème," and a cover role in the new production of Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde."

The raw talent the National Opera Company had unearthed earned recognition in Germany itself. When Kim joined Deutsche Oper in September 2024, he was immediately cast in the lead role of Marcello in Puccini's "La Bohème" and in the lead of a Janáček opera — an almost unheard-of event locally, as it was extraordinarily rare for a young Asian trainee to be handed the lead in a flagship production.

Kim Geon after winning the 2025 Belvedere International Singing Competition. [National Opera Company of Korea]

"From a foreign theater's perspective, it's a risky casting. I asked, 'Am I really the lead?' and they said, 'We trust you 100 percent.' My heart swelled — I felt supported — but when the first rehearsal came, the pressure hit me all at once." — Kim Geon

The nerves were so bad that he could not stop clearing his throat right up until the curtain rose. But the moment the performance began, everything changed. "As soon as I heard the first phrase, I was drawn in without even realizing it. When I came to my senses, I was just playing on that stage," Kim said with a shy smile. Even after his one-year scholarship contract ended, Deutsche Oper called him back. In January, he stepped in as a replacement for the role of Rodrigo in Verdi's "Don Carlo," and the local director, impressed by what he saw, cast Kim in the full run of performances through March.

The caliber of Korean singers has never really been in question. For more than a decade, it has been said that the world's major opera houses could not function without Korean singers — they are active on stages across the globe. But for these three, who grew up in Korea, that reputation was a burden as much as a gift: they were stepping into a position built on the trust their sunbae had earned before them.

"The local music coaches always say the same thing," Choi said. "'Korean singers' sound and technique are already world-class. What's missing is the freedom to play onstage and the nuance' — I hear that a lot."

Bridging that gap demanded grueling effort. Before performing in Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde," Noh worked with a local coach who corrected "the finest differences in the pronunciation of every consonant and vowel" until his tongue cramped from the practice. He also memorized greetings in more than 20 languages using Google Translate, approaching multinational colleagues with a warmth that made him a natural mood-setter backstage.

The training at the National Opera Studio proved its worth in the field. All three agree it helped them unlock natural acting and expressive range. "In Europe, they scrutinize how you interpret a role, how you walk onstage, where you direct your gaze — with an intensity that goes far beyond what I was used to," Choi said. "The ballet, contemporary dance and acting training I received at the National Opera Studio has been the nourishment that's kept me alive here."

Choi Young in rehearsal for the role of the Armchair in the National Opera Studio's 2025 production of "L'Enfant et les Sortilèges." [National Opera Company of Korea]

'Make the time audiences give us shine' — artists who sing about life

The year spent leaping onto the Deutsche Oper stage was a dazzling springboard — but none of them could afford to rest on it.

Looking back on his time at Deutsche Oper, Kim said: "Around the six-month mark, the worry of 'what do I do next year?' started creeping in." He was preparing for marriage at the time, and the pressure of rent and living costs felt urgent. But he channeled the credibility he had built at one of opera's great houses into winning the Belvedere International Singing Competition in 2025, carving out his own path. He is now pursuing a master's degree at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Köln while continuing to perform. Noh, too, is working toward a master's degree at the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin while expanding his stage presence across Europe, including at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma.

Choi, the most recent to arrive, is set to make his full Deutsche Oper Berlin debut with Mozart's "The Magic Flute" and Puccini's "Tosca." He is scheduled to appear in more than 40 performances — in supporting and minor roles — during the 2026–2027 regular season, working his way across the home stage of opera. His goal right now, he said, is to plant the Korean flag firmly at one of Germany's great opera institutions and come home having done it justice. "I want to make sure that whenever a National Opera Company scholarship student is coming to Deutsche Oper, people say, 'Oh, I'm excited — those singers are good,'" he said. "I want to grow on a bigger stage."

For the two who have already completed their time at Deutsche Oper, the path forward carries the quiet resolve of people who have passed through the fire.

Noh's dream had been to become a Kammersänger — the honorary title bestowed by German-speaking opera houses on singers of exceptional distinction, a lineage that includes Yeon Kwang-cheol and Samuel Youn. That dream has not been set aside. But his thinking has shifted. "Now I want to be an artist who stays on stage for a long time. When audiences come to the theater, they are cutting out a precious piece of their own lives and handing it to us. I want to be a singer who makes that moment worthwhile — so that their time is never wasted."

For Kim, singing has always been life itself — a record of time lived. "Right now, I'm in a phase of layering my life," he said. "Someday, when it has ripened, I want to peel it back and sing about the ordinary days I've lived. Becoming an artist who sings about life — that is my only prayer."

shee@heraldcorp.com