By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter
Jo Sumi, South Korea's most famous soprano, will be performing at the ``Divas in Beijing'' concert series which will be held during the first week of the Olympic games in Beijing. Jo will perform alongside fellow superstar sopranos Angela Gheorghiu and Renee Fleming.
According to China's Xinhua Daily and the official Olympic newsletter, Jo received an official invitation to perform at the Divas in Beijing concert series. The concert is part of the ``Meet in Beijing 2008 Olympic Arts Festival.''
Jo is scheduled to perform with the China National Opera Orchestra Aug. 11 at the prestigious National Center for the Performing Arts.
One of today's most sought-after coloratura sopranos, Jo will perform selections from Gounod's ``Romeo and Juliet,'' Rossini's ``Barber of Seville'' and several Korean songs at the concert.
Jo was quoted by China Daily as saying, ``I love the idea of combining the talents from the world's different regions and I am proud to be singing at such a historic event in Asia, my home region.''
The Divas in Beijing concert series will start Aug. 7 with Romanian soprano Gheorghiu performing at the Great Hall of the People. American soprano Fleming will perform Aug. 14 at the Great Hall of the People and Aug. 16 at the National Center for the Performing Arts. The ``next generation Three Tenors" Marcello Giordani, Salvatore Licitra and Ramon Vargas, as well as baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky and tenor Jonas Kaufmann, will also perform.
The ``Divas in Beijing.'' event is reminiscent of the performance by the Three Tenors, Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras, at the Forbidden City in Beijing for World Olympic Day in June 2001.
Jo will return to Beijing in October to perform with the China Philharmonic Orchestra at the Beijing Music Festival.