Mezzo-soprano Kristen Choi is making waves in the world of opera, with Opera News dubbing her a “powerhouse in the making” for her performance as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly. Engagements this season include a role and house debut with the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance as Bloody Mary in South Pacific, her debut with the Boise Philharmonic as the alto soloist in Mozart’s Requiem, and Virginia Opera as Dorabella in Così fan tutte. Ms. Choi is slated to return to Dallas Opera in a future season.
This season, Ms. Choi will also join Florentine Opera, Kentucky Opera, Austin Opera, and Opera San Antonio in her signature role of Suzuki. Described as “steadfast…solidly empathetic and ferocious” (KCStudio); “warm and lovely” (Washington Post); and “theatrically potent” (Opera News), she has performed the role with eleven different companies since her debut with the Glimmerglass Festival in 2014, including Opera Philadelphia, Virginia Opera, Detroit Opera, the Lubbock Symphony, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and her Kennedy Center debut with the Washington National Opera.
Ms. Choi recently joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera covering Dimitri in Fedora. Other credits include the 2nd Maidservant in Elektra (Dallas Opera), Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro (Opera Omaha, Sarasota Opera), the Cook in Stravinsky’s Le rossignol (West Edge Opera), Maddalena in Rigoletto (Opera Philadelphia), Annina in La traviata (HALO), Third Lady in The Magic Flute (Opera Maine, Virginia Opera), Dorabella in Così fan tutte (Pacific Opera Project), Zerlina in Don Giovanni (West Bay Opera), and Sesto in La clemenza di Tito (Bay Area Summer Opera Theatre Institute).
Highly sought after for her interpretations of contemporary works, Ms. Choi recently returned to Opera Philadelphia in Toshio Hosokawa’s The Raven. Wall Street Journal writes: “Ms. Choi embraced the piece’s wide range of pitch and dynamics, shifting from whispers and Sprechstimme to full-throated song… She was equally intense in her movement.” She sang Mother in a workshop of Derrick Wang’s Fearless with Opera Delaware, Hiroko Kobayashi in Jack Perla’s An American Dream with Opera Idaho and Virginia Opera, Stewardess in Flight with Dallas Opera, and Phoung Tran in a workshop of Ruo/Hwang’s The Rift with Washington National Opera. Ms. Choi also created the title role in Murasaki’s Moon, a new work with On Site Opera and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Other roles include Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Virginia Opera, Ruth Sherwood in Bernstein’s Wonderful Town with the Seattle Symphony, Jo in Little Women with Opera North, and St. Teresa II in Four Saints in Three Acts with Opera Parallèle.
Ms. Choi went on tour with the Lincoln Center Broadway Production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King and I as an ensemble member and Lady Thiang understudy in 2018-2019, having completed eighty-five performances of the role with the Marriott Theatre a few years prior, to critical acclaim: Chicago Tribune described her performances as “exceptionally rich and moving.” She has sung the role of Paquette in Bernstein’s Candide with the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, Opéra National de Bordeaux, and the Glimmerglass Festival, where “she showed off a well-schooled, appealingly smoky mezzo” (Opera Today). She has also covered the role of Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd with Virginia Opera.
On the concert stage, Ms. Choi has sung as the alto soloist in Messiah with the Naples Philharmonic and Phoenix Symphony, as well as Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with Dayton Philharmonic. In 2024, she joined the Hart Institute for Women Conductors singing excerpts from Suor Angelica. She has appeared in concert with the Paesaggi Musicali Toscani and performed as a soloist in Rene Orth’s Tak Tak Shoo with Opera Philadelphia.
Ms. Choi completed training with Santa Fe Opera (Wowkle in La fanciulla del West), Virginia Opera, and Sarasota Opera. Ms. Choi is a Lotte Lenya Competition semi-finalist, a winner of the San Diego District and an encouragement award winner from the regionals of the Laffont Competition, and a Jensen Foundation finalist. She received a Career Bridges grant as well as a scholarship with the Pasadena Opera Guild and East Bay Opera League in Oakland, California, placed first in the Coeur d’Alene Young Artist Competition and holds the Lisa Kavelage award from the Henry and Maria Holt Competition. A native of California, Ms. Choi holds a Master of Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.