In March 1983, the year she turned 21, she left Seoul National University, where she was studying music, for the Santa Cecilia conservatory in Rome. In 1985, she won first place at the Naples International Competition and went on to win prizes at several other international competitions. She graduated from the conservatory in 1986, and that November she sang Gilda in Rigoletto at the Verdi Theater in Trieste.
The breakthrough yearThe year she turned 26, she auditioned for Herbert von Karajan and was cast as Oscar in Un ballo in maschera. The Hankook Ilbo wrote that her profile rose explosively two years after her debut, when this audition became known.
In 1989, she took part in the Salzburg Festival. Karajan died that July, and Georg Solti conducted. In 1992, she returned to Korea for the first time in four years and gave a recital at the Seoul Arts Center. In 1993, she won the Grammy for Best Opera Recording, and in Italy she won the Golden Wild Goose award.
In 1994, she released her first Korean album, Saeya Saeya, and signed with the French label Erato. In 1995, she released Ari Arirang, an album for the 50th anniversary of liberation. In November 1996, she performed at Carnegie Hall in New York for the 10th anniversary of her international debut. In 1997, the live recording came out as Sumi Jo Live at Carnegie Hall.
In 1999, her singing was used in Roman Polanski’s film The Ninth Gate. The crossover album Only Love, released in 2000, sold 1 million copies in Korea alone. In 2002, “If I Leave” from the Empress Myeongseong drama soundtrack reached No. 3 on the pop chart, and she sang the Korea-Japan World Cup theme “Champions.” In 2003, she was named a UNESCO Artist for Peace.
In 2008, she was selected for the International Puccini Award. In 2011, she marked the 25th anniversary of her debut. In 2014, she appeared in Paolo Sorrentino’s film Youth. In 2016, “Simple Song #3” from that film made her the first Korean nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
In 2019, she released Mother, an album made with her mother in mind. In 2021, her mother died. In 2023, she announced an international voice competition named after herself and received the Geumgwan Order of Cultural Merit.
In 2025, she received the Commandeur, the top grade of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 2026, the year she turned 64, she marked 40 years since her world stage debut, signed with SM Classics, and received the Samsung Ho-Am Prize in the Arts and the Maria Callas Special Prize.
Sumi Jo (born Nov 22, 1962) debuted in Nov 1986, the year she turned 24, singing Gilda in Rigoletto at the Verdi Theater in Trieste, and became known in 1988, the year she turned 26, after she auditioned for Herbert von Karajan. She won the Grammy Award in 1993, the year she turned 31.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.