Yunpeng Wang returning to China for "Marriage"

Yunpeng Wang

We briefly featured Chinese barihunk Yunpeng Wang in a post about the Operalia Competition in 2002, but have never properly introduced him to readers. Opera goers in New York may already know him, as a member of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program who has already been cast at the Metropolitan Opera as Fiorello in Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia and the Flemish Duputy in Verdi’s Don Carlo.

He is currently headed back to his native country to make his role debut as Count Almaviva in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro at the spectacular National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. Performances are running from May 14-17 and tickets and additional cast information are available online.

Earlier this year, he sang Agamemnon in the Lindemann/Juilliard co-production of Gluck’s Iphigénie en Aulide. This summer he returns to the Rossini Opera Festival as Filippo in a new production of La Gazzetta in Pesaro, Italy.

Yunpeng Wang sings Di Provenza from La traviata:

Wang has been the recipient of several awards, including three prizes at Plácido Domingo’s Operalia Competition: the 2nd Place Prize, the Zarzuela Prize, and the Audience Award. He has won First Prize in the 2014 Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition, and First Prize in the Alan M. and Joan Taub Ades Vocal Competition. As a winner of Operalia, he appeared in the Voices of 2012 concert with the Budapest Symphony Orchestra MÁV in Pécs, Hungary.

Other recent engagements include Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 and Xian Xinghai’s The Yellow River Cantata with the Hartford Symphony, and participated in the “Zürich Stiftung Opera Bel Canto Night” under the tutelage of Francisco Araiza in Switzerland.

Wang received a Bachelor’s Degree in Music from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, and a Master’s Degree in Vocal Performance from The Manhattan School of Music, where he was invited to attend on full scholarship.

Domingo's "Operalia" to be broadcast live

Baritone Aldo Heo

We're still listening to the Concours vocal competition from Montreal because we can't seem to get enough of the amazing singing that took place. We've listened not just to the three thrilling barihunks - winner Philippe Sly, 3rd place winner John Brancy and Sidney Outlaw - but to many of the other contestants who wowed us with their vocalism. We were particularly impressed with 2nd place winner Olga Kindler and countertenor Eric Jurenas, who remarkably didn't advance to the finals. 

Yunpeng Wang sings "Ah! per sempre" from I Puritani:

We're hoping that we have time to recover in time for the live broadcast of Placido Domingo's Operalia competition being broadcast live from Beijing, China on Sunday, June 10th. A number of well-known singers were exposed to the opera world at the Operalia competition including barihunks Stéphane Degout and Ludovic Tezier, as well as Joyce DiDonato, Rolando Villazon, Inva Mula, Nina Stemme, José Cura, John Osborn and Susanna Phillips.

Yungpeng Wang

This year's competitors include four baritones, Amaruvshin from Mongolia, Roman Burdenko from Russia, Aldo Heo from South Korea and Yunpeng Wang from China, as well as soprano Janai Brugger form the United States, tenor Like Shing from China, mezzo Nadezhda Karyazina from Russia,    tenor Antonio Poli from Italy,  tenor Hyojong Kim from South Korea, soprano Guanqun Yu from China.  mezzo Olesya Petrova from Russia, countertenor Anthony Roth Constanzo from the United States and  tenor Brian Jadge from the United States. 

You will probably need to be a subscriber to Medici.tv to watch the competition, but we be keeping our eyes and ears open for audio feeds. [We've been informed that Medici will have the Operalia competition online for FREE for 90 days. Enjoy it!].

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com