Young Soprano Jegyung Yang Shines in Concert at the Korean Cultural Center in DC

The voice of aspiring Korean soprano Jegyung Yang echoed through the Korean Cultural Center on Jan. 28 for a special concert performance, part of a number of such concerts highlighting talented young Korean performers.

Co-presented by the Korean Concert Society, a Virginia-based non-profit which provides performance opportunities for aspiring Korean musicians, Yang was accompanied by her Russian colleague Artem Grishaev. Both are currently participating in the Washington National Opera's Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program, in addition to their own growing lists of performances around the world.

"Thank you for the splendid concert and hospitality", said Michael Zak, a regular guest at Korean Cultural Center events. "A good time was had by all".

The program included a variety of famous and beloved aria's by Mozart, Handel, and Debussy, as well as the Korean folk song Sae Ta Ryeong. Yang also performed highlight's from Mozart's opera Cosi fan tutte, which she will be performing with the Washington National Opera (WNO) at the Kennedy Center in March 2012.

"I didn't realize there were such high-quality musicians from Korea and that I could experience them right here", said guest Henry Nalven.

The performance was followed by a reception with the public and WNO leadership, featuring a variety of traditional Korean foods.

Click here to view a gallery of photos from this event on Facebook.

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Highlighting Award-winning Performers

Ms. Yang recently won first prize in Florida Grand Opera's YPO Voice Competition (2011). Other awards include first prize overall and three special prizes at the Eighth International Osaka Music Competition in Japan (2007); third prize in the Twelfth International Competition of Singing in Bilbao, Spain in 2008; and the Concorso Internazionale Voci Nuove per la Lirica contest in Pavia, Italy in 2009. This season, Ms. Yang received the second prize at the China International Vocal Competition in Ningbo.

Born into a family of musicians, Artem Grishaev graduated from the Music College of the Moscow Conservatory and from 2006 to 2011 was a student at the Moscow State Conservatory. His accomplishments include various awards at major international music competitions in Russia, a scholarship from the Nikolai Petrov Foundation, performing in the "Musical Kremlin" International Festival, any accompanying young artists of the Bolshoi at international competitions around the world.

The Korean Concert Society was founded as a non-profit cultural organization in the winter of 1979 to discover young musical talents from Korean-American community and present them in debut recitals in Washington metropolitan area. The Society's mission is to bring world-class musical talents to the Washington area and at the same time provide debut opportunities to gifted young musical artists of Korean heritage from all over the world who are still struggling to become recognized.

By Mina Do and Adam Wojciechowicz