South Korean popera tenor Lim Hyung-joo was appointed as an honorary professor of Rome’s art college, the first Korean to hold the title.

“He was appointed as a professor of Civica Scuola delle Arti di Roma’s vocal music department. His educational background at the school along with his splendid music career seems to have worked (for the appointment),” Lim’s agency said Wednesday.

(OSEN)

The 29-year-old, who debuted in 1998, was the first Korean popera tenor to perform on the global stage. In addition to having an exclusive concert at Carnegie Hall at age 17, he has performed with world-class orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic and Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra.

Previously, he was named one of the world’s top five influential popera singers by BBC and the world’s top three operatic pop tenors by CNN.

Stefano Palamidessi, dean of Civica Scuola delle Arti di Roma’s international music department, stated reasons behind Lim’s appointment, saying, “Recently, classical crossover music and popera are gaining traction among music lovers rather than traditional opera. Also, unlike other popera singers, Lim has systematically studied vocal music since arts middle school.”

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)