Hailed for his “smoothly powerful” and “excellent” voice, Korean bass-baritone Jongwon Han is making a name for himself as one of the top young artists in the industry. He was the Third Prize winner of the 2022 Operalia Plácido Domingo World Opera Competition and is an Alumnus of the Adler Fellowship at San Francisco Opera.
Highlights of the 2025-26 season include his company debut at Lyric Opera of Chicago for Madama Butterfly (Bonze), his debut on the roster of The Metropolitan Opera for Madama Butterfly, and his return to San Francisco Opera for Elektra (Pfleger des Orest) and Il barbiere di Siviglia (Don Basilio cover). On the concert stage, he will debut with Grant Park Music Festival for Beethoven Symphony No. 9 conducted by Giancarlo Guerrero.
At San Francisco Opera, Jongwon appeared in Die Zauberflöte (Sprecher), Madama Butterfly (Bonze), Rigoletto (Conte Ceprano), Un ballo in Maschera (Tom), Parsifal (2nd Knight), Lohengrin (3rd noble and 4th noble), Bohème Out of The Box (Colline and Schaunard), Die Frau ohne Schatten (Nightwatchman), Idomeneo (La Voce), and has covered in Il Trovatore (Ferrando), La bohème (Colline), Carmen (Escamillo), Parsifal (Titurel), Die Frau ohne Schatten (Der Einarmige), Monkey King (Buddha), Madama Butterfly (Yamadori), and L’elisir d’amore (Belcore).
Other recent engagements have included his company debuts at The Atlanta Opera in La bohéme (Schaunard), Opera Naples in La bohème (Colline) and Die Zauberflöte (Sprecher), Palm Beach Opera in Madama Butterfly (Bonze), and covering in Il barbiere di Siviglia (Don Bartolo) at The Santa Fe Opera. Recent concert engagements have included Handel’s Messiah with Dayton Opera, Beethoven Symphony No. 9 and Penderecki’s Credo at the Oregon Bach Festival, Haydn’s Theresienmesse and Mozart’s Sparrow Mass with the New Choral Society, and Bach’s Cantata BWV 140 in Seoul.
Mr. Han’s additional accolades include being named a Grand Finalist in the 2021 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, receiving both 3rd and the Audience Choice Award at the 2022 Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCollum Competition, earning 2nd at the 2024 Dallas Opera National Competition, 1st at the 2022 Vero Beach Opera Rising Stars Competition, and placing 3rd in the 2022 Giulio Gari International Competition. He was also awarded an Encouragement Award from the Loren L. Zachary Competition in 2022 and received the Stephen De Maio Memorial Award from the Gerda Lissner Foundation in 2021.
Mr. Han earned his Bachelor of Music degree from Seoul National University, his master’s degree from the Mannes School of Music, and studied at The Juilliard School in the Artist Diploma in Opera Studies program. He was also an Apprentice Artist at the Santa Fe Opera in the summer of 2022 and joined the San Francisco Opera Adler Fellowship program in 2023.
2025-2026
