“Consistency is the Key to Confidence”
SeokJong Baek © Dahyun Baek
A tenor of ‘thrilling vocalism’ (The Stage) and ‘technical perfection’ (The Arts Desk), SeokJong Baek has quickly made a name for himself as one of the most accomplished young singers of his generation.
Turandot: “Nessun dorma”
Originally from South Korea, SeokJong trained in the US as a baritone, but just before the 2020 pandemic made the decision to retrain his voice as a tenor, embarking upon an intense phase of vocal transition. His barnstorming tenor debut was an evening of firsts: in 2022 SeokJong sang for the first time at London’s Royal Opera House in his first-ever public appearance as a tenor, performing the title role in Saint-Saëns’ Samson et Dalila alongside soprano Elīna Garanča.
SeokJong’s debut was incredibly well-received, catching the eye of the Met, who invited him to perform one year later in a production of Nabucco in 2023. More recently, SeokJong was rushed to New York in January this year to jump in for Piotr Beczała, singing Radamès in the Met’s production of Aida with just a few hours for a costume fitting and rehearsal.
I talk with SeokJong when he is in Arizona, where, thankfully, he has slightly more time to prepare for the production he is currently working on: Puccini’s La Bohème, singing the principal role of Rodolfo.
What inspired you to start singing?
SeokJong Baek in Verdi’s Aida at the Metropolitan Opera
As a young boy, I have memories of always singing by myself, always humming some melody or other, but I was never into classical music or opera singing. My parents sent me and my sister to private piano lessons. That’s all we got as musical education as kids, but my parents loved music. My father was a member of an amateur voice group, and my mum loved singing. She was always singing at home.
Korean parents are very eager to give their children a good education, and by the time you’re in high school you have to know what you’re going to pursue for the future. My parents suggested to me to sing classical music because my sister had already started singing – she’s a soprano now – and so I naturally accepted to be a singer.
My general music background is from church. I joined one of the choirs at the local church. Mostly, when I was young, I was very into physical activities. I loved working out, playing sports, any kind of sports with a ball. Soccer, basketball, baseball: I loved them all, and never thought about being a singer!
Where are you based these days?
I’m based in Manhattan, where I studied. I left New York for San Francisco to do a young artist programme at San Francisco Opera. After I changed my voice, I came back to New York, and since then, I’ve stayed there. With that said, I travel a lot, so I maybe only see New York two months a year.
You recently got to see New York perhaps a little sooner than you expected: tell us about your jump-in for the Met earlier this year.
I was coming from Asia [to the US] for rehearsals for Arizona opera, but I got a call from the Met saying they needed a tenor for the opening night of Aida because Piotr Beczała was sick. Piotr went on for the opening night in the end, but two days later, I got another call saying that I was needed. I flew to New York and had to jump in for two shows.
I arrived on the day of the show at 2am – I slept for a few hours, woke up and went to the theatre at 11am for the costume fitting and rehearsal. I went back home and managed to sleep for a few hours and then had the show that night. Luckily it went so well – people loved it!
Celeste Aida from Aida by G. Verdi – Ten. SeokJong Baek
Opera schedules often factor in rest periods for the singers, given the physically demanding nature of the work. Does it feel different when you’re having to jump in for a last-minute performance or when working on an unforgiving schedule?
When I jumped in at the Met, I remember thinking, ‘If I don’t sing well in the show, it looks bad for the opera house,’ so I was really stressed out. However, I had to be practical: there was only a short amount of time to put my mind together and focus on it, so I did that rather than getting scared by the negative things. I just focused on what to do and how it could be the best. The mentality is what I needed to focus on as much as the physicality: the fact that I knew I could do it.
Did you get taught how to cultivate this mentality when you studied, or is it something one has to absorb with experience?
SeokJong Baek in Puccini’s La bohème at Arizona Opera
I learnt it by myself. When you learn a skill, when you work on a skill, the most important thing is consistency: doing the same thing constantly. When I was changing my voice from baritone to tenor, I was settling my voice for one and a half years.
Luckily, that time was the year of the pandemic so everything was stopped, and I could fully give attention to my voice. During that time, I just tried to sing as I planned, as I dreamed, and I practised every day without skipping a day. That consistency gave me a huge confidence.
To put it simply, if I have good practice, I don’t usually get nervous.
What prompted the desire to change your voice from baritone to tenor?
My voice kept growing during the time I was studying, and at the end of my twenties, my voice expanded more. I’d been focussing on my technique, how to sing clearly, almost as if I was speaking. I found this higher range, and I kept developing it. All of a sudden, my high upper range was extended, which isn’t needed for a baritone voice.
I was curious about it at the time, about why I had these extra high notes that I hadn’t tried out before. At the beginning of my thirties, when I’d finished studying, my teacher was very sure about my voice: I was told I was a baritone, and I accepted it.
After I’d finished studying, I met a professional tenor, another Korean, Yonghoon Lee. He was in shock about my voice, and he gave me a comment, a true comment about my voice: that he thought I could be a tenor. That moment changed me.
There were many people who talked about my voice, saying I could be a tenor, but Yonghoon was the only one who was sure about it, strongly. After that one meeting with him, he disappeared, and I haven’t seen him since, but it stuck in my mind.
And you’re happy with the decision to change?
Absolutely. Since the debut it was like a storm – everything happened quickly and unexpectedly. I couldn’t imagine my diary could fill so quickly because theatres plan two or three years ahead. I was worried about not having an opportunity after one year, but after the pandemic, they started rebuilding their schedules, and all of a sudden, I got the opportunity from the Met.
Do you remember the night of your debut as a tenor?
My debut as a tenor was three years ago at the Royal Opera House, in the title role of Samson et Dalila. I was supposed to cover it, but the principal cancelled, and so all of a sudden, they offered it to me.
As a new tenor, I had to take that opportunity. I had two months of preparation for the role, and weeks of rehearsal. My colleague Elīna Garanča told me that to debut as a tenor in a new opera house, in a new role, I had to have a heart of iron!
For more of the best in classical music, sign up for our E-Newsletter
