Leo An

The summer of 2004 took Leo An through a run of Italian open-air performances with the I.C.O. Symphony Orchestra and Choir — Verdi's Rigoletto and Puccini's La bohème, given in Volterra, Seravezza, Montecatini Terme, Montagnana and Todi, with Silvia Dalla Benetta in the casts at Montagnana and Montecatini Terme. The South Korean baritone trained at the National Arts Academy in Seoul and at the Milan Conservatory. In 2000 he won first prize at the Voci Verdiane competition in Busseto and third prize at the Francisco Vinas in Barcelona, and in 2002 third prize at the Belvedere in Vienna; that same year of 2000 he debuted as Germont in La traviata at Busseto. He went on to sing Ping and the title role in Rigoletto and Renato in Un ballo in maschera at the Teatro Comunale in Florence, Count di Luna at Luglio Musicale Trapanese and in Novara, Gerard in Andrea Chenier in Bergamo, Pavia and Cagliari, the title role of Nabucco at the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari, Scarpia in Sassari, Lescaut in Cagliari and Pagano in I Lombardi alla prima crociata at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples.