The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on Friday that the Sangmyung University visiting professor Han, 44, will take over the widely-known Korea National Opera for the next three years.
Han, who is also know abroad as Regina, has an impressive resume despite her age, which is young for a general director. She studied at the G. Verdi Conservatorio di Milano before gracing the European and Japanese operatic stages as a soprano.
Han has won prominent competitions including the Padova International Music Competition and the Como International Competition. This also won’t be the first time that she is involved with the Korea National Opera. She has taken on a number of leading roles in operas including "Salome" and "La Boheme."
Besides teaching at Sangmyung University, she has also been an instructor at Chungnam National University, Pai Chai University and Hansei University.
Former KNO directors include tenor Lee In-beom, baritone Oh Hyun-myung and soprano Chung Eun-sook. Many believe that Han has what it takes to the Opera to success, especially since South Korea has been producing many of the winners of international singing contests.
Check out Han’s performance in Puccini's opera “Tosca,” down below.
