Korean bass Minseok David Kang spent six seasons at the Hamburg State Opera, first as a member of its International Opera Studio (2019 to 2022), then as a member of the ensemble (2022 to 2025). There he performed more than fifteen roles under conductors including Kent Nagano, Alexander Joel, Giampaolo Bisanti, and Francesco Ivan Ciampa, and in productions by directors such as Dmitri Tcherniakov and Axel Ranisch.
His repertoire centres on the serious bass Fach: Sarastro and Sprecher (Die Zauberflöte), Colline (La Bohème), Masetto (Don Giovanni), and Frère Bernard (Saint François d'Assise). Guest engagements have taken him to the Staatsoper Stuttgart, where he created Kreon in the world premiere of Antigone Tribunal, as well as to Oper Zürich, Theater Kiel, the Opéra de Montpellier, the Opéra national de Lorraine, and the Ettlingen Festspiele.
An active concert singer, he appears regularly as an oratorio soloist in northern Germany, including frequent performances at Hamburg's St. Michaelis. His concert repertoire ranges from Mozart's Requiem and Haydn's Die Schöpfung to Rossini's Petite Messe solennelle and Puccini's Messa di Gloria.
Born in Seoul, he studied at Kyung Hee University with tenor Alfred Kim before completing his master's degree in Konzertgesang at the University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart with Ulrike Sonntag.
“David Minseok Kang was especially pleasing in the role of Dottore Grenvil, with a bass voice that made you sit up and listen.”
ioco.de · La Traviata · Staatsoper Hamburg
“Masetto was superbly portrayed by David Minseok Kang with his noble bass. A disappointed, betrayed fiancé who, together with his companions and armed with rubber truncheons, plots revenge on Giovanni.”
ioco.de · Don Giovanni · Staatsoper Hamburg
“Andrew Dickinson (Élie) and David Minseok Kang (Bernard) gave outstanding performances and were fully absorbed in their roles.”
ioco.de · Saint François d'Assise · Staatsoper Hamburg
“... while David Minseok Kang lent his noble bass voice to the brutal, axe-swinging innkeeper.”
ioco.de · Manon · Staatsoper Hamburg
“The young Korean bass from the Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera, Minseok David Kang, with his superbly articulated German, held his own among the soloists.”
Concert review · Die Schöpfung · Wedel, 2023
Quotes translated from the German originals.