Biography
Soprano Jihye Wagner received her Bachelor of Music in 2000 from Kyungwon University studying voice with Professor Jeong Keun Lim and received Scholarships each year for the highest GPA. From 2002–2003 Jihye performed for the Seongnam City Choir. In 2002, Jihye sang for the 2002 Korea-Japan FIFA World Cup with Myung-Whun Chung. In 2003 she left Seoul City Choir and headed to The United States of America. In 2004 Jihye started the Master's program at The Hartt School of Music in Connecticut as a recipient of the Hartt Masters of Music Talent and Honors scholarship. She met and worked with Mitchell Piper and Miriam Charney. Under the direction of Peter Kazaras and Michael Ehrman, she performed leading roles in two productions: Suor Angelica in Suor Angelica in 2005 and Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro in 2006. Jihye competed and took first place in the 2005 New England District Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. During the summer of 2005, Jihye participated in the Intermezzo Young Artist Program and sang with Brian Zeger in the Intermezzo Young Artists Concert. She later attended a master class by Diana Soviero. Jihye also received a Master of Music degree in 2006.
Having attained her Master's in Music, and with the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House still in her sights, Jihye left the East Coast in the Fall of 2007 and went to Champaign, IL, to work towards her Doctorate in Musical Arts in Performance and Literature with a specialization in Voice at the University of Illinois Urbana/Champaign (UIUC). There, she was a recipient of the University of Illinois Fellowship. Studies at UIUC began with Professor Cynthia Haymon-Coleman. Within the first month of her first semester, Jihye locked in the leading roles of Mimi in La Bohème and Fiordiligi in Così Fan Tutte. By the end of the first semester, Jihye became Second Place Winner of the Central Region N.A.T.S. Advanced Category 2007 competition and received glowing reviews for her Mimi performance.
Currently, she teaches at her own studio in Glen Rock, NJ.
