Skill, Trust, and a Little Luck with Kangmin Justin Kim ’11

HELEN KIM: Welcome to Northwestern Intersections, where we talk to alumni about how key experiences have propelled them in their life's work. I'm Helen Kim Northwestern Alumni Association, and today we'll hear from Kangmin Justin Kim, one of the most sought after countertenors of his generation. He has earned accolades in the roles of Baroque repertoire, contemporary music, and in Mozart trousered parts, at some of the most prestigious opera theaters and festivals around the world.

Justin, welcome to our show. How are you doing?

KANGMIN JUSTIN KIM: I'm very, very good. Thank you for having me.

HELEN KIM: Oh my gosh. Where are you calling from today? Because I know you travel a lot. So--

KANGMIN JUSTIN KIM: Yeah. I'm currently in Paris, France.

HELEN KIM: And that's where you live.

KANGMIN JUSTIN KIM: Yeah. I been living here for about two, three years now.

HELEN KIM: How did you get to Paris?

KANGMIN JUSTIN KIM: Well long story, but let's go back to when I graduated from Northwestern, which was 2011. I went straight to London to study at the Royal Academy of music to do my masters. After two years of masters, literally, the day after my graduation recital, I started a job at Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, d'Aix-en-Provence Festival. And that's in France.

So I went to France. And there I made a lot of connections, professional connections, and also met some of my best friends. And that kind of bloomed into a full fledged career in Europe. And that got me to stay in France, and also Germany, and some other countries surrounding. And I eventually ended up doing a ensemble position in Heidelberg in Germany for about a year and a half. And then after that, I kind of followed my boyfriend who was moving from London back to Paris. And I was like, well, if he's moving to Paris, I guess I'll move to Paris. And I've been here ever since.

HELEN KIM: When you said you moved to London after graduation, did you know that you wanted to go outside of United States after graduating? Or is that common? Or how did you make that decision?

KANGMIN JUSTIN KIM: One of the biggest factors in making the decision was the fact that I was a musical theater student at Northwestern. And had I gone to do my master's in New York, I would have had the temptation to go to cattle calls. And I probably would have lived with a bunch of music theater students and have had crazy hours. And I just kind of wanted to distance myself from that temptation more than anything. And also another thing was at Northwestern, I studied with Theresa Brancaccio and at Royal Academy of Music I studied with her teacher, Diane [INAUDIBLE].

Yeah, Diane actually in the '80s taught a bunch of people in the Chicagoland area. And I know some of the faculty members at Northwestern like Karen Brunson and Kurt Hanson, they all studied with her too. So Diane was my grand teacher. And I thought that would be a better transition for me to go from my teacher to her so that the technique and like the language kind of stays the same rather than to change completely to a brand new teacher and then have a six month adjustment period for a two year master's degree.

Yeah. And also in Europe, there's a lot more Baroque music. And me being a countertenor who sings a lot of Baroque repertoire, I thought there would be more performance opportunities. And it proved to be true.

HELEN KIM: Yeah. Could you explain what a countertenor is for folks who may not have heard who countertenors are?

KANGMIN JUSTIN KIM: Yeah. So a countertenor, it just I mean literally means counter, like against, terror. It's just something that is not above or just different from tenor. So tenor is usually the highest modal male voice part. So when you have a choir, you have a tenor and a bass. And in opera, you also get baritones, and sometimes baritenors, or bass baritones. There are other modal male voice parts. But countertenors use kind of the mixture of head voice and chest voice and falsetto to create a sound that would be more similar to a female voice register.

And the reason why countertenors end up singing a lot of Baroque repertoire is because in the 17th and early 18th century in Italy, they had these castratos who were men castrated before they hit puberty. So they would retain their adolescent voice. So basically, to have female vocal register. And there were a lot of virtuosic roles written for the said singers. And these were historically sung by mezzo sopranos and sopranos like. But nowadays with the advancement countertenor singing technique, more countertenors are singing these roles.

HELEN KIM: Oh, that's so cool. I've always wanted to know a little bit more about countertenors. I've hardly never met a lot of them. So I love that I get to meet you right now.

KANGMIN JUSTIN KIM: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, from my perspective, I feel like everybody's a countertenor these days. But also from an outsider view, it's true that there aren't that many countertenors around nearly as much as sopranos and mezzo sopranos.

HELEN KIM: So you moved around a lot. For you, how has adjusting in new cities have been? And was that easy for you? Or are you prone to wanting to move somewhere else and have new environments?

KANGMIN JUSTIN KIM: Well, to be perfectly honest, I had my biggest culture shock when I moved from Gimhae, South Korea to the suburbs of Chicago when I was 11 years old. And having had that experience and not having had any prior knowledge of what Chicago would be like, or not speaking English back then, it was a really, really drastic experience very, very early in my years.

And after that shock, honestly, everything else is just not as crazy. So what I moved from Chicago to London, it was like, oh everybody speaks English. So that's cool. And because I studied the operatic languages, which are German, French, and Italian, when I got to Germany, and France, even though I didn't really speak those languages back then, I could still get by in a way. I knew how to buy a bottle of wine from any grocery store.

HELEN KIM: Yeah. That's important. That's an important question.

KANGMIN JUSTIN KIM: Absolutely. Yeah. It's just one of those first things that we have to learn. So after having moved from Korea to the US, nothing really phased me. And also because I grew up watching my dad travel all the time for work. When we lived in Korea, he spent at least three days a week in Japan. And every month, he would be in Russia. And when I was in third grade, I think, he spent a year in Brazil and Argentina. So I was always just super jealous of his jet setting life. And maybe that drew me closer to the career path that I've chosen. Because I love flying. And I love traveling and seeing new cities, and having to adjust quickly. It's just so exciting.

HELEN KIM: So what are you up to now?

KANGMIN JUSTIN KIM: Well, so two days ago, I got a call from my agent saying that a theater in Venice in Italy, so La Fenice, means the Phoenix. This theater burned down three times and they rebuilt it. So it's literally the Phoenix theater had a vacancy from someone who had to leave a production. So they asked me to replace the singer. So yeah. I'm going to be there in two days rehearsing. And within a month, I'll have had my first performance.

HELEN KIM: First performance since when?

KANGMIN JUSTIN KIM: Well with live audience, it will have been since March 11th 2020. So a year and four months nearly. I mean, I've done other performances in between, or broadcasting, recording, but they were always for empty theaters. This time around, it'll be my first performance with live audience in over a year. And yeah. I'm super excited about it. Kind of scared too because the cast is mostly Italian. And I'm doing the Vivaldi opera, Italian opera, in a very historic theater in Italy.

So it's always nerve wracking to sing in the native language of the city where I'm performing. But I've already sung at La Fenice before touring with Sir John Eliot Gardiner. We did Monteverdi trilogy tours. And I sang "L'incoronazione di Poppea". So I've sung two operas there, Orfeo and Coronation of Poppea by Monteverdi. So it's not as nerve wracking, but still, still scary.

HELEN KIM: Yeah. Because it's been a while. Singing in front of an empty theater versus with a live audience, completely different. And it's been such a long time.

KANGMIN JUSTIN KIM: Yeah. When you sing in an empty theater, there are certain things that you can no longer do on stage. Because there's no audience. And so I've gotten so used to singing into an empty hall, singing to microphones really. So I had adjusted my technique a little bit here and there to sound as full and as seamless in front of a microphone versus singing to a theater. But now, I have to retrain a bit to project properly and readjust myself into getting used to the acoustics and other stuff.

HELEN KIM: Wow. I didn't even think about that. Because I'm sure the acoustics is going to be different. I didn't even realize you would have to change your technique. But now that you say it, it makes so much more sense.

KANGMIN JUSTIN KIM: Yeah. It's actually pretty interesting. Because when I worked at the Vienna State Opera and worked with this Wagnerian specialist conductor, Simone Young who is also a knitter. And [INAUDIBLE].

HELEN KIM: I have met Simone.

KANGMIN JUSTIN KIM: Simone is crazy incredible. We did a German modern piece together called "Das verratene Meer," which is "The Sailor Who Was Betrayed By The Sea." But the way Simone worked with the score, she knew every single little detail on every single page. It was incredible. And she said on the very first day of the rehearsal, she said, because we're not performing for an audience and we're going to be singing into an empty theater, I want you to consider this about your singing technique.

I want you to consider that the things that you don't necessarily hear from the orchestra, or you feel like that is not being heard from you, I will let you know exactly how it will sound on the recording because the microphones are placed between the orchestra and the singers unlike the placement of the audience, which is in front of both orchestra and the singers.

So we didn't have to cut through the orchestra nearly as much. And for that reason, we had to be extra, extra careful about the dynamics when singing piano, actually sing piano, things like that. And that really changed my mindset about how to perform for empty theaters. And the recordings that I've done after that, I've always had the voice of Simone with her Australian accent in my head. And yeah. It seems to have worked because the recordings that I hear sound decent.

HELEN KIM: Yeah.

KANGMIN JUSTIN KIM: [INAUDIBLE]. They sound much more intended for recording than a live performance.

HELEN KIM: Wow. Do you have a favorite performance that you can think of? Or any memorable performance in your life? I'm sure there are so many.

KANGMIN JUSTIN KIM: There are too many performances. Let me think. Well, having had the opportunity to sing Cherubino at the Royal Opera House in "The Marriage of Figaro" definitely one of the highlights of my career because I was one of the very first countertenors, or just male singers, to interpret the role of Cherubino in this opera at a A level house in the opera world. So that was kind of historic. But at the time when I was doing it, I didn't really feel the pressure necessarily. Because I had the same level of pressure before going into any other performance.

I have to give the best performance that I can give for that given day. And I have to do all these physical preparations. Because if I'm running around and singing, then I have to go to the gym in the morning and run on the treadmill and sing, which is what Beyonce and Britney Spears do. So-- so I do the treadmill singing thing, I also had to really work on my Italian language because, every time you do an opera, you have to sound as native as possible.

So there were other things to worry about than to think about what this event meant. And only in hindsight I realized how special it was and all the hype that the papers and other websites made made sense. And also having done the Julius Caesar at Glyndebourne Festival was very special because I got to sing with some of my absolute favorite singers in the world like Dane Sara Conley, and countertenor Christophe Dumaux, and Joel Harvey, someone who I just loved so much because her singing is just so classy.

And as a fellow American, she and I can bond in Europe together.

HELEN KIM: Yeah.

KANGMIN JUSTIN KIM: So those two come to mind, especially because they were both directed by Sir David McVicker, who is this incredible Scottish director. And every production of his that I've seen and been a part of, they're all just magical. That's what opera is supposed to be like. And he does everything in the most classical sense. And he just checks every boxes for all the classists, all the purists, but also just new fans of opera, and people who just like theater. He just checks all the boxes and creates [NON-ENGLISH] just total artwork all the way through.

HELEN KIM: Justin, do you hope to perform as long as possible? Or do you hope to maybe transition into teaching more, or a combination of both as you think about your future career path?

KANGMIN JUSTIN KIM: I have so many ambitions. And there are so many things that I want to do in the opera world. Because there are just endless potentials in this form of art, entertainment, whatever you call it. I love being on stage. Because I dance, I sing, I act. So I feel really comfortable on stage. But also I am aware of the fact that countertenor singing voices historically do not last as long as some other modal voices.

So the retirement will probably come earlier than I would like. In that case, I still would love to be in the opera world, whether I direct, or conduct, or choreograph, or do costume design. There are so many aspects--

HELEN KIM: Costume design.

KANGMIN JUSTIN KIM: Yeah. Why not?

HELEN KIM: Yeah.

KANGMIN JUSTIN KIM: And I know it's completely too ambitious for me to say all of these things right now because there are people who have been training all their lives and become a director, to become a conductor, to become a costume designer, and choreographer, and all that. But I mean, I can still dream.

HELEN KIM: Oh, for sure.

KANGMIN JUSTIN KIM: I'm not trying to diminish the work and efforts of these people by saying that, oh I'm going to ride on my opera singer fame track and then go into all of these other things. No, if I do it, I want to really train and work for it. A lot of conductors that I work with, they know that I come from instrumental background playing violin and viola, and they see that I look at opera music in a very orchestral way, rather than singing line against accompaniment.

Yeah. So I'm trying to just widen my horizon more for now. I know I can sing for another 10 years at least. So I'll start worrying about that later. As me in five years.

HELEN KIM: Yeah. Focus on the present. But I have to ask you and mention, I know that you're a knitting influencer. Please tell me how you got there. Were you always into knitting?

KANGMIN JUSTIN KIM: Well, I started knitting in Korea because it was the thing to do. In Korea, we have elementary schools. And right in front of each elementary school, they have these things called [NON-ENGLISH] which is a stationary store, but also kind of a toy store, and also kind of everything. It's just a general store meant for kids, meant for school.

And they would often carry toys and other popular items. At a certain point, knitting was super in. So I was like, OK. Well, all the girls are doing it. And I just got to do it because I got to be better than all of them. So being super competitive, I started knitting in second or third grade. And then when I got to a certain level, I stopped. And then the knitting fad came back again in 11th, 10th grade in high school. So I had to show off with my knitting skills again when everybody was arm knitting and using these super chunky needles. I was doing hats and mittens and stuff.

And then, I put that aside again and only really picked up hardcore knitting when I started working professionally in Germany in 2013 December. This was my first gig that I did away from where I lived. Back then, I lived in London. And I didn't pack correctly. So I didn't have a lot of warm things. And I saw a stage manager, when I was doing this production of "Idomeneo" by Mozart, knitting backstage. And I was like, that's such a good idea. I should totally do that.

So I went to a local knitting store and then grabbed all of the yarn. And I didn't have to buy the needles because I had them in my [INAUDIBLE]. I always carry knitting needles, because you never know. There can be a zombie apocalypse and you can be stranded on an island. And then you need something fabulous to wear.

So I had my needles. And I started knitting them. And then I realized what perfect match knitting and opera rehearsing was. Because oftentimes in opera rehearsals, when you're not singing in the foreground, and when you're just watching other scenes happening while other people are rehearsing, you're just kind of playing Candy Crush. And you can't really do anything else because you have to be quiet, but you still need to focus. And knitting is something that you can do in tandem.

So I can knit and look at the things that I'm knitting, but also watch what's going on. And this also applies to when I go home and watch Netflix. I can still knit. So knitting became a big part of my professional career. And in Paris, I became very good friends with an American expat named Amy. She had a knitting shop. And I met her and she is now my big sister. She's half Korean. So we had Korean moms. So there are bonds that cannot be explained unless you had a Korean mom.

And yeah. She and I bonded. And then she really got me to do difficult and really fancy professional knitting stuff. And that's just grown, grown. And actually during the pandemic, for the first few months when I could not perform, when all the theaters were shut down, she offered me a job to work at her yarn production company. So I worked there as a yarn dyer and also IP guy for five months. So yeah. I found gainful employment because of my knitting passion.

And yeah. I actually went there a week ago to develop some new colors for them. So yeah. It's still a big part of what I do. And I suggest to everybody to try knitting because it's really good.

HELEN KIM: Well, we are halfway into 2021 this year. And for you, what are you looking forward to for the rest of the year?

KANGMIN JUSTIN KIM: I am looking forward to seeing the world getting back on its feet. I am looking forward to being able to travel again and seeing friends at the most random places because that's kind of something to look forward to when you are working as a traveling performer. Because you just find yourself in the middle of nowhere one day. And then you just go on Instagram and post on your stories, I'm in Hanover in Germany. And then someone's like, wait a minute. I'm 35 minutes away. I'll be there.

So that kind of little surprises I'm looking forward to. And also being able to see my parents again. So it's been a year and a half. And because my dad's working in Mexico and my mom's in Chicago, it's hard for us to all get together. But hopefully, we'll be able to see each other in the second week of August.

HELEN KIM: I just want to thank you so much for sharing all of your story, all of your traveling stories, and so happy that you get to now perform to a live audience. That's the best part about being a performing artist, right?

KANGMIN JUSTIN KIM: Yeah.

HELEN KIM: [INAUDIBLE] of an audience.

KANGMIN JUSTIN KIM: I mean audience makes up one third of the performance.

HELEN KIM: Yeah.

KANGMIN JUSTIN KIM: It really, really is one third of the performance. And when we share the same air and when we inhale and exhale, I mean in COVID times, this is really bad. But when we share the same air and occupy the same acoustic space, magical things happen. And telepathy is a real thing. You can feel what the audience is feeling. And you can tell them what you're feeling. And you can share without words, with just a vowel, and music, you can share all of these things in foreign languages with foreign audiences.

It's so incredible. And this is why live music has always been a part of human history, really. Just so happy. It's kind of surreal that I get to perform in front of people. But yeah. Just the idea of it is so amazing.

HELEN KIM: Do you have any last career advice that you would like to share with the Northwestern Network?

KANGMIN JUSTIN KIM: Wow. Career advice that I give to a lot of people is that in order to have a career, you need to be lucky. And it's not just-- everybody has the chance to be lucky, some more than others. But we all have the chance to be lucky. But in order to take advantage of that chance when it comes, you need to be ready. So be ready. Northwestern is the place to become ready. There are amazing teachers and so many amazing resources. Get yourself down to Chicago and go to Chicago Symphony, go to Lyric Opera, Haymarket Opera.

There are so many amazing performance opportunities that you will not be able to have when you start working, when you start functioning as a real adult, really. I learned a lot at Northwestern. But I wish I had taken advantage of everything that Northwestern had to offer.

HELEN KIM: Thank you for tuning into today's episode of Northwestern Intersections. For more information about our podcast, please visit northwestern.edu/intersections. Until next time, stay safe. And take care of yourself and your families.