"Ambler opera singer shares voice across globe"

By Thomas Celona. -The Ambler Gazette- Aug.12.2009

Link "Voice is one of the most beautiful gifts. It's direct from the heart," Yungbae Yang said. For nearly two decades, this Ambler resident has been sharing his heart with audiences across the globe, bringing his first-class baritone to opera companies worldwide. Yang recently returned from a sold-out set of performances with the Korea National Opera. However, it was more than just another successful production for him — it was a homecoming, as Yang returned for the first time in nine years to his home country where his opera career began. Growing up in South Korea, music was always a part of Yang's life, but it took him a while to take to opera. "As a kid, I was interested in the pop music more than the classical music, but I always liked singing," he said. Yang began singing during his senior year of high school in 1991. From there, music shaped his entire life. "After 10 months of lessons, I could get into one of the famous music colleges in Korea," Yang said. After studying voice and opera at Hanyang University, Yang sang for two years with the National Chorus of Korea. Yang said being a member gave him the chance to perform in concerts across the Pacific and further train his opera skills. "I got a lot of experience as a singer," he said. It was this experience and exposure to opera that fueled a passion for the art and paved the way for his journey to the United States. "I decided I wanted to continue my study in opera, and I overheard the reputation of the AVA," Yang said. Since 1934, the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia has attracted many of the best vocalists in the world, offering tuition-free instruction. Yang said the academy's faculty includes some of the best in the industry and alumni are recognized all over the world. Yang came to America in 2000, but he first attended Gwynedd-Mercy College, where he studied English for a year. Yang then applied to the AVA, along with many other prestigious music schools, including Julliard. "I was accepted at several other schools, but there was no doubt to go to the AVA," Yang said. Yang's dream of attending the AVA had come true, but things only got tougher from there. "It's very competitive," Yang said of the AVA. The four-year program only has 30 students, so the pressure is on each student to perform, he said. "After the first year, about half of them have dropped out. It can be very stressful, but it's very good for the singers. The pressure is a good way to study being an artist." In 2005, Yang graduated from the AVA, and his career quickly took off. In the four years since, Yang has sung across both the nation and the globe, performing with the Dallas Opera, the Opera Company of North Carolina and the Singapore Lyric Opera, among others. However, Yang had perhaps his most important performance recently, returning to South Korea for the Korean National Opera's production of "Madama Butterfly." "I could feel I was grown up as an opera singer after 10 years studying in the States," Yang said. The production was a hit, immediately selling out its run from July 17 to 25. "It was quite amazing," Yang said. Yang is now back in Ambler, where he has lived for more than a year, but he will be returning to the stage next spring when the Dallas Opera Company stages "Madama Butterfly." In the meantime, Yang is enjoying time with his family and helping to share his passion for opera with the community. Yang is not the only vocalist in the family — his wife, Eunmi, is a singer herself, and the two have performed together across the country. Married for 10 years, the Yangs have two children, Hana, 5, and Daniel, 2, and Yang said he is appreciating time with them before his next engagement calls him away. "That's the hardest part of my job," he said, noting rehearsal periods can last four to six weeks. Yang also said he wants to use his time to share opera with his community. "It's one of the most beautiful art forms," he said. Yang said he believes opera is becoming more accessible to American audiences, and he will do his part to bring live opera to his community, performing at the annual concert at his church, 'Ambler Korean Presbyterian Church', in November. For the third year in a row, Yang will showcase his baritone, exposing opera to many who may have never seen it before. "While I'm home, I want to do as much as I can to give my talent to the community," Yang said.

Opera Company hits high note with 'Elixir'

By Tim Lindeman Nov.9,2008 Greensboro

Yungbae Yang gave a strong performance as the boastful and egotistical Belcore. This is a young baritone voice, well focused and full of potential. This sergeant is oblivious to anyone outside of himself, an arrogance that Yang caught perfectly.

Il Barbiere di Siviglia –Singapore Lyric Opera, July 31. 2007

The Straits Times (Singapore) -by Stephanie Yap

Tall and with a jovial baritone, Yang as Figaro conveyed mischief and cunning.

Il Barbiere di Siviglia –Singapore Lyric Opera

Opera -Nov. 2007- by Robert Markow

SLO had at its disposal a first-rate cast from half a dozen countries.-The Korean baritone Yungbae Yang brought to the title role robustness and projection.

Il Barbiere di Siviglia –Singapore Lyric Opera Fri, Aug 3. 2007

Bussiness Times (Singapore)- By Charmian Kok

Yang retains the mischief and fun that makes Figaro one of the most well-loved characters in opera.- Figaro is as entertaining and delightful to watch as ever.

Review of L'Amico Fritz and Iolanta

by Emily Brown

Yungbae Yang, already mentioned for his performance in L'Amico Fritz, gave a terrifically agile performance of Robert's aria.

David in L'Amico Fritz with Academy of Vocal Arts

David Patrick, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Jan 24, 2005

"An extremely promising Verdi baritone, Yungbae Yang (David) was vocally suave while also making whatever dramatic points the opera allows."

Robert in Iolante with Academy of Vocal Arts

David Patrick, The Philadelphia Inquirer, March 1, 2005

"The cast's Russian diction was pretty good. Baritone Yungbae Yang (as Robert) seemed the most comfortable."

Hitting the right notes

By Ruth Rovner for the Times February 5, 2004 edition

http://www.northeasttimes.com/index.html
As a talented singer at the Academy of Vocal Arts, where he’s training for a professional opera career, Yungbae Yang of Elkins Park had the leading baritone role in the recent AVA production of Puccini’s Edgar.
Like other operas, this one has its share of drama and passion. But behind the scenes, the singer also had his own suspenseful drama.
Yang was scheduled to perform at the Kimmel Center on Jan. 21, and his wife was almost ready to give birth. The due date for their first child was just three days before his performance. There was plenty of suspense during the weeks leading up to his performance. What if the baby was born the night of the performance?
“We were a little nervous and worried,” admits Yang. But baby Hana Yang cooperated beautifully. She was born at Abington Memorial Hospital on Jan. 12. That day, for the first time, Yang missed an AVA rehearsal so he could be there for her birth.
“It was perfect timing, and we were so happy and relieved,” said the delighted father.
Preparing for an opera while awaiting the birth of his first child was a first for the 30-year-old singer. But even without this unusual situation, his life as an AVA student is a challenging one.
He’s in school full time, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., taking voice lessons, being coached, and attending master classes given by high-profile singers.
But the other classes cover more than singing. There are classes in stage combat, movement, history of opera and a separate course on the great singers.
Then, too, there are foreign language courses, since opera singers must perform in the original language. The required courses include Italian, French and German, plus coaching in Russian.
The foreign-born students — and this includes a third of the student body — also take courses in English as a second language.
Yang, a native of Busan, South Korea, is one of four Korean students. His classmates come from Mexico, Turkey, China, Cuba and elsewhere.
All are gifted singers who are accepted into this prestigious academy after highly competitive auditions. In Yang’s case, he had to sing five arias before an audition committee that included the entire faculty, the executive director and the music director.
Three weeks after his audition, he learned that he had been accepted.
“I was so happy because AVA is the best school,” he said. “It’s well-known for its fabulous music faculty.”
Each student who is accepted also receives a full-tuition scholarship. In Yang’s case, he also got a fellowship to cover living expenses.
Yang heard about AVA while he was still in South Korea. He grew up in a musical family. His mother, Kyung Soon Kang, loves classical music and taught her two children to play the piano. They clearly had singing ability, too.
Yang’s younger sister, Song Mi Yang, is now a mezzo soprano who sings with the Graz Opera in Austria.
Yang earned his bachelor’s in music from Hanyang University and then sang with the National Chorus of South Korea. But after two years, he decided to pursue advanced study in opera. He knew about AVA’s outstanding reputation, and it was his top choice. But first, he needed to improve his English.
In the spring of 2000, he and his wife moved to Philadelphia to study English. The next year, he applied to AVA and to several other music schools, just in case he wasn’t accepted here. But he was accepted, and in September 2001, he began his studies at the stately brownstone at 1920 Spruce St., near Rittenhouse Square, which is AVA headquarters.
“It’s a unique institution,” he says. “It’s been everything I expected. The faculty members here have made me the singer I am.”
He’s already an award-winning singer. Last year he won a Marian Anderson Prize for Emerging Classical Artists. He was also a regional winner in the 2003 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions for opera singers.
As he talks about his life as an opera student, he’s in an upstairs room where the sound of piano and operatic voice in rehearsal resound from a nearby room. Yang’s low-key style — he’s almost soft-spoken — gives no hint of the powerful baritone voice that audiences hear once he’s on the stage. One music critic praised his performance in Lucia di Lammermoor last year by writing that he “gave a powerful performance with a richly interpretive baritone voice and convincing acting skills.”
Preparing for leading AVA roles is strenuous work. It involves three months of preparation, with intensive three-hour coaching every day, plus rehearsals.
His first year at AVA, Yang had the lead role of Figaro in The Barber of Seville. It was his first opera performance in America.
‘I was very excited, but I also had stage fright,” he said. Once he was onstage, the stage fright vanished, and he was totally absorbed in the opera. Afterward, the audience gave the singers a standing ovation.
In his second year, he not only had the lead baritone in Lucia di Lammermoor, but also in Faust. This year, there was his recent role in Edgar, with the added excitement of the birth of his daughter.
His wife, Eunmi Shin, could not come to the Kimmel Center, having given birth just nine days earlier. But she’s a singer herself, a soprano, so she takes a keen interest in her husband’s performances. And she didn’t miss this one. A friend videotaped the opera, and Yang and his wife — along with their infant daughter — watched it at home right after the performance.
Now he’s preparing for his next opera. In the spring, he’ll sing the role of Belcore in Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love. It’s the same role he sang nine years ago when he was a student in Korea and the university presented this opera. “This time, I’ll be singing in Italian, not Korean,” he says. “And it will be interesting to see how I’ve changed over nine years in singing this role.”
But he does sing in Korean, too. Yang is an active participant in the Philadelphia Korean Musicians Association, a group of about 50 musicians. They are singers as well as instrumental musicians.
Each year, they present a seasonal concert of Korean art songs and opera arias. The concerts are given in area Korean churches, including the United Korean Church in Cheltenham. In November 2002, the musicians also mounted an entire Korean opera, Choonhyang-jun, and Yang had a leading role. The opera was presented twice at Yang Sang Korean Church in Horsham, and it drew an overflow audience of 1,000 for each performance. The crowds were delighted to hear a full-scale Korean opera in the Philadelphia area for the first time.
Yang’s musical activities also include conducting his church choir. Every Sunday, he leads the 15-member Ambler Korean Presbyterian Church Choir.
The church, he says, is one of many small Korean churches in the Philadelphia area. In fact, Yang has heard estimates that there are more than 200 of these churches.
“The Korean community here is very close-knit,” he says. “And for me, it’s very important to stay involved in this community. We’re Korean American, so we’re part of the American community. “But we also have a different culture and background. It’s important to preserve our culture — and to develop it right here within the major culture.”
The other major focus of his musical life, of course, is at AVA. Next year will be his final year in the four-year program, and then he looks ahead to a life of creating music with his special instrument — his voice.
“I look at singing as a gift that God gave me,” he said. “If I use it well, then singing is one of the most beautiful art forms in the world.
“And singers can communicate through the music. We can help bring people together. So my goal is to use my singing ability in the best way I can.”

Il Barbiere di Siviglia Fri, 3 May 2002

Harry Abraham

Yang acted and sang as though the role were written with him in mind. He justly received great acclaim at the bows. I would have expected the third stringer to be tentative in the ensembles, which are so crucial to the success of any Rossini. Yang was terrific.

Lucia di Lammermoor from Philadelphia Weekly Nov 13 2002

Mark H. Beers

Yungbae Yang, as Lucia's domineering brother, gave a powerful performance with a richly interpretive baritone voice and convincing acting skills.

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Beethoven’s No 9 The Columbian May 26 2004

by James Bash

Solist Yungbae began the vocal fireworks with his big, rich baritone statement: “O Friends, not these sad sounds…”.