Youngkug Jin

South Korean bass-baritone Youngkug Jin is establishing himself as a versatile artist with a growing international career across the German and European opera scene. His repertoire ranges from Mozart and Weber to Verdi, Puccini, Dvořák, and Wagner, with a particular affinity for the dramatic bass-baritone repertoire.

Jin received his Bachelor of Music from Myong-Ji University in South Korea, where he studied with bass Yohan Kim. He subsequently moved to Germany to pursue a Master’s degree in Music Theatre at the Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg, studying with Kammersänger Prof. Jan Hammar. Since 2024, he has continued his advanced vocal training in the Konzertexamen programme at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar under Prof. Michael Gehrke.

From 2020 to 2022, Jin was a member of the Opera Studio at Theater Lübeck, where he gained extensive professional stage experience in a wide range of repertoire. His roles there included Pietro in Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra, Uncle Bonze in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, and Procolo in Donizetti’s Viva la Mamma. He also appeared in Aribert Reimann’s Die Gespenstersonate and took on several roles in Richard van Schoor’s contemporary work L’Européenne.

Further operatic engagements have included Caspar in Weber’s Der Freischütz at the Schlossfestspiele Ettlingen and Timur in Puccini’s Turandot at Opera på Skäret in Sweden. He has appeared as Vodník (the Water Goblin) in Dvořák’s Rusalka at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, a role he returned to in the 2025/26 season.

In the 2025/26 season, Jin joins the solo ensemble of Landestheater Niederbayern, where his roles include Titurel in Wagner’s Parsifal and Timur in Puccini’s Turandot. Earlier in his career, he appeared as Sarastro in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte in South Korea and as Geronimo in Cimarosa’s Il matrimonio segreto with Yangpyeong Opera.

Jin has also attracted attention at international singing competitions. He was an opera finalist at the 32nd Nuits Lyriques de Marmande International Singing Competition in 2020 and received a scholarship to the International Opera Workshop Waiblingen in 2021, where he worked with Thomas Hampson and Melanie Diener. He went on to become a finalist at the Concorso Lirico Salice d’Oro in Vienna and received a Special Prize at the Grandi Voci Opera Singers Competition in 2023.

In 2024, he was a finalist at the Lauritz Melchior International Wagner Singing Competition and received a scholarship from the Richard-Wagner-Verband Dortmund. That same year, he was awarded a Special Prize at the Golden Voice Competition in Batumi and Second Prize at the Singnani Competition in Imola.

With an expanding repertoire and experience at opera houses and festivals across Germany, Austria, Sweden, Croatia, and South Korea, Youngkug Jin continues to develop his international career as a bass-baritone, combining the classical repertoire with an increasing focus on Wagnerian and dramatic roles.