South Korean soprano Sunyoung Seo was born in Pusan, and studied singing at the Korea National University of Arts in Seoul.

A DAAD scholarship enabled her to come to Europe and to study at the Robert Schumann Musikhochschule in Düsseldorf, where she performed roles such as Contessa Almaviva Le Nozze di Figaro, Mimi La bohème and the title role in Suor Angelica. With support from Westdeutscher Rundfunk, she recorded a CD album of romances and arias and then, as a member of the ensemble at Theater Basel, appeared as the title role in Rusalka, Micaëla Carmen, Salud La vida Breve, Katja Katja Kabanova, Amelia Un ballo in maschera, Desdemona Otello, Elettra Idomeneo, Elsa Lohengrin and Tatiana Eugene Onegin.

Sunyoung has worked with leading international conductors including Christian Thielemann, Valery Gergiev, Myung-whun Chung, John Fiore, Axel Kober, Gabriel Feltz, John Luther, Enrico Delamboye, Giuliano Betta, Andrea Marcon, and Thomas Gabrisch. She has also performed with presitigious orchestras including the Wiener Philharmoniker, London Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonieorchester Basel, Mariinsky Orchestra, Munich Radio Orchestra, Berner Symphonieorchester, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and NHK Symphony Orchestra, in venues including the Barbican, Wiener Konzerthaus, Carnegie Hall, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, Mariinsky Concert Hall and Konzert Theater Bern.

In competition, she has won first prizes at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and St Petersburg, the Maria Callas Grand Prix and the Francisco Viñas International Competition, and second prize at the International ARD Music Competition in Munich.

Sunyoung is now a freelance soprano and her recent performances and roles include Cio-Cio-San Madame Butterfly at the Opéra National de Lorraine, Santuzza Cavalleria Rusticana and Elsa Lohengrin in Seoul, her United Kingdom début as Liù Turandot for Opera North, Katja Katja Kabanova at the Hamburger Staatsoper, Ortlinde Die Walküre at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the title role in Rusalka and Elisabetta Don Carlo in Daegu, plus both Tosca and Elena Les Vêpres Siciliennes in Seoul.

Her most recent appearances in Europe include her first Aida at the Opéra de Montpellier and her debut with Scottish Opera as both Giorgetta Il tabarro and Angelica Suor Angelica in Sir David McVicar’s critically-acclaimed production of Il Trittico, for which she received glowing and universal praise for her two portrayals from press and audience alike. Alongside her busy diary in Korea, her future European plans include Angelica Suor Angelica with the Nederlandse Reisopera.