David Won

Baritone

Korean-American baritone David Won is critically acclaimed as a distinguished baritone of “dramatic power and exceptional beauty.” A graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s prestigious Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, he first performed on the main-stage as Prince Yamadori in Anthony Minghella’s new production of Madama Butterflywhich was part of the “Live in HD” series and released on DVD. Opera Magazine proclaimed, “There’s an excellent Yamadori from David Won and his scene is played with an unusual degree of imaginative perception by all participants.”

In addition, he has appeared with the MET as Gregorio in Romeo et Juliette, Silvano in Un Ballo in Maschera, Perichaud in La Rondine, Cappadocian in Salome, Unlucky Gambler in The Gambler, Huntsman in Rusalka, as well as in their productions of Thais, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Carmen, and Iphigenie en Tauride opposite Placido Domingo. This past season he covered Belcore in L’Elisir d’Amore and will return next season to cover Ping in Turandot.

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…filled with nuances…

Falstaff - “David Won had the unenviable task of singing Ford against such a powerful voice…he gave a volatile rendition, filled with nuances and capped with a wonderful “Un sogno” monologue.” – Opera News

…singing especially rings true…

La boheme - “Won’s singing especially rings true during the scene at the Christmas celebration, when Marcello spots an ex-flame. Won etches every resentful word about her in acid. When she appears, though, the coquette Musetta doesn’t live up to his invectives.”– Charlotte Observer

…especially notable…

Amelia- “David Won’s rich baritone is especially notable, and no one else in the large cast is less then excellent.”– Seattle Times

…velvety depths of tone…

Feast of Songs - “The velvety depths of tone were then deployed in five Schubert songs; David’s voice has a beautiful core from which he is able to move the voice easily and expressively throughout a wide range. His presentation of the songs was sincere and unfussy.”– at Bruno Walter Auditorium

Composer	Opera	Role
Bellini	I Puritani	Ricardo
Bizet	Carmen	Escamillo
Donizetti	Don Pasquale	Malatesta
	L’Elisir d’Amore	Belcore
	Lucia di Lammermoor	Enrico
Handel	Guilio Cesare	Achilla
Gounod	Faust	Valentin
	Romeo et Juliette	Mercutio
Leoncavallo	I Pagliacci	Silvio
Massenet	Manon	Lescaut
Mozart	Don Giovanni	Don Giovanni
	The Magic Flute	Papageno
	Cosi fan tutte	Guglielmo
	Le nozze di Figaro	Count
Puccini	La boheme	Marcello, Schaunard
	Manon Lescaut	Lescaut
Rossini	Il barbiere di Siviglia	Figaro
	L’Italiana in Algeri	Taddeo
	La Cenerentola	Dandini
Verdi	Don Carlos	Rodrigo
	Falstaff	Ford
	Il trovatore	Count di Luna
	La traviata	Germont
	Simon Boccanegra	Paolo
Wagner	Lohengrin	Heerrufer
	Tannhauser	Wolfram von Eschenbach

Composer	Work
Bach	Magnificat
Beethoven	9th Symphony
Brahms	Requiem
Britten	War Requiem
Faure	Requiem
Handel	Messiah
Haydn	Creation
Mendelssohn	Elijah
Mozart	Requiem
Orff	Carmina Burana
Verdi	Requiem

Korean-American baritone David Won is critically acclaimed as a distinguished baritone of “dramatic power and exceptional beauty.” A graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s prestigious Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, he first performed on the main-stage as Prince Yamadori in Anthony Minghella’s new production of Madama Butterfly which was part of the “Live in HD” series and released on DVD. Opera Magazine proclaimed, “There’s an excellent Yamadori from David Won and his scene is played with an unusual degree of imaginative perception by all participants.”

Mr. Won has made many significant role debuts outside of the MET, having first appeared as Ford in Falstaff with Cleveland Opera, in which Opera News declared, “he gave a volatile rendition, filled with nuances and capped with a wonderful “E sogno” monologue.” Additional debuts have included Marcello in La Boheme with Opera Carolina; Escamillo in Carmen with Nashville Opera; Guglielmo in Così fan tutte with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City; and his Alice Tully Hall debut as the Baritone soloist in the Faure Requiem and Vijay Singh’s world premiere Mass with DCINY.

He also appeared as the Doctor in the World Premiere of Daron Hagen’s Amelia with the Seattle Opera and returned there as Ford in Falstaff. In addition, he has performed Dr. Malatesta in Don Pasquale with Connecticut Opera, Chief Policeman in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk at the former Baltimore Opera, Achillas in Giulio Cesare at Utah Festival Opera, and covered Rodrigo in Don Carlo with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the baton of James Levine.

Mr. Won has won numerous International competitions and awards including First place in the Baltimore International Vocal Competition, First place in the Violetta Dupon Opera Florham International Competition, First place in the Mario Lanza Opera Competition, First place in the Washington International Vocal Competition, First place in the Civic Morning Vocal Competition, Second prize winner in the Jensen Foundation and Gerda Lissinger Foundation, First male prize in LiederKranz Foundation, and Third prize in Caruso International Competition.