Sumi Jo (real name 조수미, born 22 November 1962 in Changwon, South Korea) is a
lyric coloratura soprano whose career began under the rigorous guidance of her
mother, an amateur singer who enrolled her in piano at four and voice at six.
Sumi Jo’s formal education progressed through the Sun Hwa Arts School and Seoul
National University, where she debuted professionally as Susanna in Mozart's The
Marriage of Figaro with Seoul Opera; she then moved to Rome in 1983 to study at
the Conservatorio Santa Cecilia, earning dual degrees in keyboard and voice by
1985 and beginning her internati...