School of Music to present Metropolitan Opera singer Yohan Yi

News Release
January 21, 2020

The Marshall University School of Music will host a visit from Metropolitan Opera singer Yohan Yi. He will give a master class to Marshall University voice students, which will be open to the public for viewing and a ticket-free event.

It will take place at 5 p.m. Monday, Jan. 27, in Smith Recital Hall. Participating in the class will be Marshall University voice students Zac Doss, Bailey Wilson and Cadence Weaver.

Following the master class, Yi will also participate in MUsic Monday, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Jan. 27 at Cellar Door, 905 3rd Ave. He is expected to perform opera arias there as part of the classical music presentation. The discussion will be led by Dr. Vicki Stroeher, professor of music history, and her presentation is titled “Setting the Scene: Vincenzo Bellini and the Bel Canto Aria.”

Seating is limited at Cellar Door. Participants are invited to arrive early to enjoy conversation and purchase refreshments. Donations of $10, payable at the door, are welcomed and go to support student travel and research in the music program. Checks should be made payable to Marshall University.

Yi’s visit is funded in part by the Joan C. Edwards Distinguished Professors in the Arts Endowment with support from Marshall’s College of Arts and Media.

Before Yi became a full-time member of the Metropolitan Opera chorus, he sang with the LA Opera, Merola Opera and Korean National Opera and won in the Opera Index Vocal Competition, the Loren L. Zachary National Vocal Competition, Connecticut Opera Guild Competition, Pasadena Opera Guild Voice Competition, and Heida Hermanns International Voice Competition.

Yi is very busy as a full-time Metropolitan Opera Chorus member, said Dr. Alexander Lee, coordinator of voice studies at Marshall.

“It is such a great pleasure to welcome him to Marshall University as a guest artist because Metropolitan Opera Chorus members perform 8 to 12 operas in a season, so it is very difficult to travel during the performance time,” Lee said. “He has only two breaks during the season and he decided to use one of them to visit Marshall.”