Kangmin Justin Kim is a Korean-American countertenor from Hoffman Estates, Illinois, USA. He is a graduate of Northwestern University in Evanston, IL (BM in Voice Performance - cum laude and departmental honors, Musical Theatre Certificate) and Royal Academy of Music, London (MMus - DipRAM; Distinction). During his studies, he has participated in masterclasses with artists such as Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Dennis O'Neill, Thomas Quasthoff, June Anderson, Malcolm Martineau, Alfred Brendel, and Masaaki Suzuki, among others.

The start of 2013-2014 season saw Kim as the winner of the eponymous Les Azuriales Prize at Les Azuriales Young Artists Programme and Competition in Nice, France, and the Special Engagement Prize with Theater Heidleberg at the 4th International Singing Competition for Baroque Opera Pietro Antonio Cesti, Innsbruck, Austria.  In October, Kim won the Wisconsin District of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, as well as receiving the People's Choice Award, and he made his recital debut at the Holywell Music Room, Oxford, with his duo partner, Sachika Taniyama.  Most recently, he made his role debut as Menelao in Elena by Cavalli at Opera national de Montpellier, France, and he will reprise the role in Lille, France, and Lisbon, Portugal, as a part of the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence tour later this season.

For the 2012-2013 season, Kim and Taniyama collaborated to compete in Oxford Lieder Young Artist Platform (Winner) and National Mozart Competition in UK (Semi-finalist).  In March, Kim was seen as Knusperhexe in Hänsel und Gretel at the Royal Academy of Music, conducted by Gareth Hancock and directed by Daisy Evans, and in summer, Kim has covered the role of Menelao in Elena and participated in the Cavalli Concert Residency at Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, France.

In the 2011-2012 season, Kim was named the winner of Michael Head Song Prize and a finalist for the prestigious Richard Lewis Award at RAM. In August 2012, he participated in the Verbier Festival Academy in Verbier, Switzerland, and received the 2012 Prix Mermod for Voice.  He was a semi-finalist in Concurso Internacional de Canto at Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and was the winner of the 2012 Stuart Burrows International Voice Award held in Carmarthen, Wales.

His past operatic roles include Cherubino in John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles, Second Spirit in The Magic Flute, and Anima in Tom Floyd’s original opera Shadow of the Wave, and musical theatre roles include Fakir in Secret Garden, Street Singer in Berstein’s Mass, and Barky in the world premiere run of Not Wanted on the Voyage.

Upcoming engagements include Idomeneo (Idamante) at Stadttheater Gießen, Germany, as well as concerts and recitals throughout Europe.

© Kangmin Justin Kim