Rising opera star Hyesang Park is returning to South Korea to take on the role of one of the most iconic leading ladies -- Shakespeare’s Juliet.

Park will be performing in the Korea National Opera’s upcoming staging of Charles Gounod’s “Romeo and Juliet” from Dec. 8-11. The Korean opera singer has been making waves in the international opera realm, winning numerous competition titles and even having been praised by the New York Times for her “bright, clear voice and impressive coloratura technique.”

In the last year, she has placed in three competitions: first prize at 2016 Gerda Lissner Foundation International Competition; second prize and the Audience Choice Award at the Montreal International Musical Competition; and second place overall in the women’s division in Placido Domingo’s International Operalia competition, as well as taking first prize in the women’s Zarzuela. 

Park is also slated to make her Metropolitan Opera debut as the First Wood Nymph in Dvorak’s “Rusalka” with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in February and March next year.

For her upcoming role in the operatic rendition of the Shakespeare classic, the soprano will be starring alongside renowned French soprano Nathalie Manfrino and American tenor Stephen Costello.

Gounod’s “Romeo and Juliet” will be staged at the Seoul Arts Center’s Opera Theater with ticket prices ranging from 10,000 won to 150,000 won.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)