Tenor Konstantin Lee was born in Seoul, South Korea, in 1988. He completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the College of Music, Seoul National University, and received his Konzertexamen at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg in Germany.

 

Lee has won numerous prestigious competitions, including first prizes in the Neue Stimmen International Singing Competition, the SWR Young Opera Stars Competition, the Anneliese Rothenberger Competition in Germany, and the Luis Sigall Competition in Chile. Additionally, he won third prize in the Montreal International Musical Competition and fourth prize in the Seoul International Music Competition. Lee represented South Korea at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition.

 

Lee made his operatic debut as Alfredo in Verdi’s La Traviata at the Seoul Opera House. In Seoul, he also sang Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore and Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Bohème. His European debut followed in 2016, where he performed Ferrando in Mozart’s Così fan tutte at Theater Freiburg. From there, he went on to perform as Camille in Lehár’s Die lustige Witwe at the Wiener Volksoper under the baton of Alfred Eschwé. He also sang the role of Prince Sou-Chong in Das Land des Lächelns at Theater Solingen and performed as Camille in Die lustige Witwe at Teatro La Fenice in Venice under the direction of Stefano Montanari.

 

In the 2024/25 season, he took on the role of Cassio in Verdi’s Otello in a co-production between the Royal Opera House in London (Covent Garden) and the Seoul Arts Center, performed in Seoul under the direction of Carlo Rizzi. During the Festival der deutschen Sprache 2024 at the Goethe Theater in Bad Lauchstädt, he sang the role of Tamino in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. Furthermore, he successfully appeared as the Duca in a new production of Verdi’s Rigoletto at Landestheater Neustrelitz. 

Subsequently, he returned to the stage as the Prince in Prokofiev’s Die Liebe zu drei Orangen at Staatstheater Cottbus. In the summer of 2025, he captivated audiences as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte at the Eutiner Festspiele in Germany.

 

Lee’s upcoming engagements include performances as a soloist in Honegger’s oratorio Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher, Orff’s Carmina Burana, and Verdi’s Requiem with the Staatskapelle Halle and other major venues in Germany and Korea. He is also scheduled to return to Landestheater Neustrelitz for a production of La Bohème.

 

In previous seasons, Lee performed as Rodolfo in La Bohème at the Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater, the Duca in Verdi’s Rigoletto at Daegu Opera House, and the Prince in Prokofiev’s Die Liebe zu drei Orangen at Staatstheater Cottbus. In the 2022/23 season, he portrayed the Duca in Verdi’s Rigoletto at the Seoul Metropolitan Opera and Tamino in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at the Korean National Opera. During the 2021/22 season in Korea, he sang the roles of the Duca in Verdi’s Rigoletto, Alfred in Strauss’s Die Fledermaus, and Ottavio in Mozart’s Don Giovanni.

 

In addition to his operatic career, Lee is an in-demand concert singer. He has performed the tenor part in Mozart’s Requiem with the Korean National Choir and has toured as a soloist with Korea’s most renowned orchestras, including the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra under Myung-Whun Chung, the National Orchestra of Korea, and the KBS Symphony Orchestra under Yoel Levi. He has also performed with the NCPA Orchestra in Beijing, as well as with orchestras in Japan and Chile.