“Gilda is sung by Hyejin Lee, a young soprano from South Korea, and she impresses with her clear and carrying voice that soars easily into the higher realms. The acting is consistently good and she sings her aria in act 1 with great empathy and fine expression. The music is sparse and only gives some support to the soloist, but so convincingly sung by Hyejin Lee” (Rigoletto at Opera pa Skaret, Sweden) Dala-Demokraten, Anne Pettersson, 3 August 2023.

Hyejin was born in 1993 in Seoul, South Korea. Having earned her Bachelor’s degree at the Seoul National University with Prof. Mihye Park, she obtained her Master’s at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Frankfurt am Main with Prof. Klesie Kelly-Moog, followed by the Soloklasse program at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover with Prof. Sabine Ritterbusch, all with the highest distinction.

In 2017, she was awarded First Prize at the Köln International Music Competition, also receiving the Audience Prize. Her performance with the WDR Funkhausorchester was broadcast by WDR, and she was invited to sing at the Floraball Köln in 2018. In the same year, she was a finalist at the Competizione dell’Opera in Linz, performing with the Austrian Bruckner Orchestra, upon which Das Opernglas remarked: "South Korean Hyejin Lee ventured into the Donizetti opera Linda di Chamounix and mastered the madness aria 'O luce di quest'anima' with an ease that amazed". Her further accolades include First Prize at the Korean Voice Competition, Second Prize at the Dong-A Music Competition, First Prize at the Vocal Music Competition in Daegu and First Prize at the Chosun International Music Concours. Furthermore, in 2019 she was awarded a scholarship from the Richard Wagner Scholarship Foundation.

More recently, she received the 2nd Prize (1st prize was not awarded) laureate at the Ada Sari International Vocal Artistry Competition 2023 and is the winner of three special awards (the Ada Sari Award for the best coloratura soprano, the Concert Award of Teatr Wielki, Warsaw and the Special Award of Krakowska Opera Orchestra).

From 2018, Hyejin was engaged for four seasons at Theater Magdeburg, performing a wide variety of repertoire and gaining extensive stage experience. Her Gilda debut at Theater Magdeburg was described by IOCO Kultur as: “…in creating a completely convincing role… This also applies to Hyejin Lee, who took on the role of Gilda. Extremely youthful looking and dressed up, she was able to perform the very infantile role with her light soprano very well. Flexible in the coloratura, her voice like a glistening light with increasing pitch - radiant and direct, with little vibrato, not only her famous "Caro Nome" was a pleasure."

Since going freelance in 2022, she has made a series of critically acclaimed debuts, including as Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor) and Rosina (Barbiere di Siviglia), both at the Daegu Opera House in South Korea, as Papagena (Die Zauberflote) at Deutsche Oper Berlin, and as Gilda (Rigoletto) at Opera pa Skaret in Sweden. She will begin 2024 with a role debut at the Korean National Opera as Elvira from L'italiana in Algeri.