Duke Kim is the Second Prize Winner of both Operalia (2022) and the inaugural Juan Pons International Singing Competition (2022), as well as a Grand Finals Winner of the Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition (2021). He is an alumnus of the Cafritz Young Artist Program at Washington National Opera.
In the 2025 - 26 season, Duke returns to Los Angeles Opera as Tony in West Side Story and to Houston Grand Opera for a new production of Silent Night (Nikolaus Sprink). He also makes five major European house debuts: as Roméo in Roméo et Juliette at both Dresden Semperoper and Teatro dell’Opera di Roma; as Gennaro in Lucrezia Borgia at Teatro de la Maestranza; and as Alfredo Germont in La traviata at Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera. He will conclude the season at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. In concert, he performs the role of Duca di Mantova in a staged concert of Rigoletto at the Philharmonie de Paris with Le Cercle de l’Harmonie under Jérémie Rhorer and appears as Nadir in a staged concert of Les pêcheurs de perles with Washington Concert Opera.
Recent highlights include his Metropolitan Opera debut as Tamino in The Magic Flute, his Los Angeles Opera debut as Roméo in Roméo et Juliette, and his role debut as the Duke in Rigoletto at Santa Fe Opera. He has also appeared as Tamino at Seattle Opera and as Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore with Irish National Opera.
Additional operatic engagements include Faust (title role) with Irish National Opera and Berkshire Opera Festival; La traviata (Alfredo) with Pittsburgh Opera and Seattle Opera; Roméo et Juliette (Roméo) with Washington National Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival, Florentine Opera, and Opera San Antonio; Don Giovanni (Don Ottavio) with The Atlanta Opera; Carmen (Le Remendado) with Washington National Opera; Così fan tutte (Ferrando) and The Merry Widow(Camille) with Palm Beach Opera; and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Lysander) and Eugene Onegin (Lensky, cover) with Santa Fe Opera.
On the concert stage, Duke made his South American debut at Teatro Colón in Messiah and has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra in Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem, Eine kleine Freimaurer-Kantate and Bach’s Magnificat - all under the baton of Gianandrea Noseda. He has appeared with the Santa Fe Symphony in A Night at the Opera, the Grant Park Music Festival in Haydn’s The Creation, and with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in Messiah. He has also presented a solo recital for the Korean Music Association and Sag Harbor Song Festival and a duet recital with mezzo-soprano Taylor Raven at Seattle Opera.
A graduate of Chapman University and the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, Duke performed during his studies in L’elisir d’amore (Nemorino), Gianni Schicchi (Rinuccio), Little Women (Laurie), and La finta giardiniera (Count Belfiore). His additional concert repertoire includes Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Saint-Saëns’ Oratorio de Noël. He has trained in the young artist programs of Wolf Trap Opera (Studio Program) and Palm Beach Opera (Benenson Young Artist Program).
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