High, bright and clear can easily describe the pure and lyrical voice of Sumi Jo. Her early studies were in her native Korea, but in 1983, she moved to Rome to study at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory where she graduated in 1985 with degrees in piano and voice.

Just three years later she was being invited to Salzburg by Herbert von Karajan and soon other major conductors were engaging her brilliant, coloratura soprano. Her career has gone from strength to strength both in concert and in opera as well as in the recording studios. Among her other honors, Sumi Jo was named Soprano Of The Year in 1993 at La Siola Doro in Italy, a biennial prize established to honour sopranos of today and pay homage to one of the great soprano's of Italy's past, Lina Pagliughi.

Sumi Jo has recorded complete opera roles for Decca with Sir Georg Solti and Richard Bonynge and a delightful recital disc titled Carnaval! Featuring coloratura rarities discovered by Bonynge.