Herald Business reporter Myungsoo Lee Soprano Sumi Jo is producing a 40th-anniversary album with SM Entertainment’s classical and jazz imprint, SM Classics.SM Entertainment told Yonhap on the 21st that it has signed an exclusive contract with Jo to produce her albums and recordings.
Jo will become SM Classics’ first exclusive recording artist and will receive support for album production and digital releases.
First up is a special album titled Continuum, due next month to mark the 40th anniversary of her international debut. The 11-track collection spans Jo’s past, present and future and includes contributions from prominent Korean and international composers such as Yiruma, Park Jong-hoon and Kim Jin-hwan.
Suho of K-pop group EXO will join Jo for a duet, bringing a pop sensibility to the classical repertoire, and violinist Danny Kudo appears as a featured artist.
Jo said the album “includes technically demanding coloratura arias I’ve never recorded on disc before, as well as new works by contemporary composers.” She added, “My true approach to music is to break down the boundary between the heritage of traditional classical music and modern sensibilities, and to keep pushing toward new music rather than staying on familiar ground.”
She will begin a nationwide tour next month, and in July she will host the second Sumi Jo International Vocal Competition in France.
Jo made her international debut in 1986 at the Teatro Verdi in Trieste, Italy, performing in Verdi’s Rigoletto, and has since established herself as a world‑renowned soprano.
