The award-winning, internationally acclaimed tenor, especially renown for his “well-acted, well-sung” portrayals of a wide range of roles, has performed with a continually growing list of leading organizations throughout the U.S., including: The Metropolitan Opera; San Francisco Opera; Detroit Opera (formerly Michigan Opera Theatre); Opera Philadelphia; American Conservatory Theater; The Atlanta Opera; Bard Music Festival; Boston Lyric Opera; Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Chicago Opera Theater; Cincinnati Opera; The Dallas Opera; Hawaii Opera Theatre; Lyric Opera Baltimore; Lyric Opera of Kansas City; Nashville Opera; New Orleans Opera; Opera Carolina; Opera Omaha; Pacific Symphony; Palm Beach Opera; Pittsburgh Opera; Seattle Opera; Tulsa Opera; Utah Opera; Virginia Opera; and, Washington Concert Opera.  International engagements include performances with leading organizations in Canada, South Korea, and the U.K.: Canadian Opera Company; Vancouver Opera; Korea National Opera; and, Raymond Gubbay, Ltd., at the Royal Albert Hall.

Ahn’s portrayals and performances have been widely praised in such publications as Broadway World, Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, Opera News, San Francisco Chronicle, et. al.

Ahn’s 2023-2024 Season includes a return to Detroit Opera as Goro in MADAMA BUTTERFLY by Puccini; a début in the roles of the Valet Tenors in LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN by Offenbach with Palm Beach Opera; a company début with LA Opera in two productions — as Gastone in LA TRAVIATA by Verdi, immediately followed by a role début as Pong in TURANDOT by Puccini; and, a festival début at Hudson Valley International Festival of the Voice as Don Basilio in LE NOZZE DI FIGARO by Mozart.

Ahn opened his 2022-2023 Season via a company début with The Dallas Opera, as Borsa in RIGOLETTO by Verdi.  Thereafter, he returned to The Atlanta Opera as Goro in MADAMA BUTTERFLY; traveled to New York City to reprise his role as Kaspar in On Site Opera’s highly acclaimed production of AMAHL AND THE NIGHT VISITORS by Menotti; returned to Nashville Opera to reprise the lead role of Guang in a STUCK ELEVATOR by Au Yong — the role which he created, and for which his performances won the San Francisco Bay Area Critics Circle Award for the Principal Actor in a Musical; made his company début with New Orleans Opera as Goro in MADAMA BUTTERFLY; made his Wagnerian role début as Mime in DAS RHEINGOLD; joined San Francisco Opera’s Centennial Anniversary Season as Goro in MADAMA BUTTERFLY; returned to Cincinnati Opera, also as Goro; and, made his festival début at the Bard Music Festival in a semi-staged concert presentation of SIR JOHN IN LOVE by Vaughan Williams as Bardolph, also a role début.

Ahn made his return to the stage in 2021 via a trilogy of Puccini role débuts to add to his wide-ranging repertoire: Nick in LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST with Korea National Opera; Spoletta in TOSCA with Cincinnati Opera; and, Gherardo in GIANNI SCHICCHI with Tulsa Opera, which also included a performance as Rodolfo in the Act I Finale of LA BOHÈME by Puccini.  His 2021-2022 Season also included: Second Priest in the Holiday Presentation of THE MAGIC FLUTE by Mozart with The Metropolitan Opera; Goro in MADAMA BUTTERFLY, in concert, with Canadian Opera Company; and, another role début as Borsa in RIGOLETTO with Opera Philadelphia, having previously covered the role at The Metropolitan Opera.

Ahn’s role début as Nick in LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST by Puccini in July 2021 also marked his début in his hometown of Seoul.  Additionally, the production presented by Korea National Opera at Seoul Arts Center was the national premiere of Puccini’s masterpiece in South Korea.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020, Ahn made his South Korea début, also a company and role début, as Gastone in LA TRAVIATA by Verdi with Korea National Opera.

Ahn’s engagements in the abbreviated 2019-2020 Season included: Pang in TURANDOT by Puccini, via a Robert Wilson production, with Canadian Opera Company; his début in the role of First Jew in SALOME by R. Strauss with The Atlanta Opera; and, Goro in MADAMA BUTTERFLY with Tulsa Opera.

Also as part of the 2019-2020 Season, Ahn made his company début with On Site Opera in a holiday classic, as Kaspar in a highly acclaimed site-specific production of AMAHL AND THE NIGHT VISITORS by Menotti, presented at the Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen in New York City, in partnership with Breaking Ground, New York City’s largest provider of permanent supportive housing for the homeless, and featuring a chorus composed of community members who have experienced homelessness.

Ahn joined the roster of The Metropolitan Opera as part of its 2013-2014 Season in its production of THE NOSE by Shostakovich, and went on to make his stage début as the Second Priest in THE MAGIC FLUTE by Mozart.  Additional productions with The Metropolitan Opera include TURANDOT by Puccini, DIE FLEDERMAUS by J. Strauss, and RIGOLETTO by Verdi.

Other notable opera engagements include: Antenore in ZELMIRA by Rossini with Washington Concert Opera; Bardolfo in FALSTAFF by Verdi with Opera Omaha; Monostatos in THE MAGIC FLUTE with Opera Carolina, Opera Omaha, Hawaii Opera Theatre, Michigan Opera Theatre, and Pacific Symphony; Basilio and Curzio in LE NOZZE DI FIGARO by Mozart with Lyric Opera Baltimore and Bar Harbor Music Festival; Tanzmeister and Brighella in ARIADNE AUF NAXOS by R. Strauss, Soldier in THE EMPEROR OF ATLANTIS by Ullmann, and Padre Ruffiano in THE INSPECTOR by Musto, with Boston Lyric Opera; Demo in GIASONE by Cavalli with Chicago Opera Theater; Sellem in RAKE’S PROGRESS by Stravinsky with the Princeton Festival; roles in THE NOSE with Opera Boston; and, Mark in THE MIDSUMMER MARRIAGE by Tippett, in concert, with Boston Modern Orchestra Project at Jordan Hall.

Cast in STUCK ELEVATOR by Byron Au Yong and Aaron Jafferis, directed by Chay Yew, as part of the 2011 Sundance Institute Theatre Lab at Banff Centre, and again, at White Oak, Ahn went on to create the lead role of Guang in the triumphant World Premiere with American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco as part of its 2012-2013 Season.  Ahn’s performances earned him the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theatre in 2013, in the category of Principal Actor in a Musical.  He later reprised the role with The Arts and Ideas Festival at Long Wharf Theatre.  In 2023, STUCK ELEVATOR premiered as an opera, presented by Nashville Opera as a part of its 2022-2023 Season, with Ahn in the lead role. Additionally, Ahn has also performed the principal role of Conrado in a workshop performance of LONG SEASON by Chay Yew and Fabian Obispo, as part of Huntington Theatre Company’s Breaking Ground Festival.  Additional role credits include Jean Valjean in LES MISÉRABLES in concert; King of Siam in THE KING AND I, and Duke/Dr. Carrasco in MAN OF LA MANCHA, as well as, roles in CAMELOT, RAGTIME, and TITANIC.

Ahn has also performed, to great acclaim, the lead role of the Grouch in Robert Kapilow’s operatic adaptation of DR. SEUSS’ GREEN EGGS AND HAM as part of a double-bill with DR. SEUSS’ GERTRUDE MCFUZZ, also by Kapilow, in a joint production by Hawaii Opera Theatre, Honolulu Theatre for Youth, and the Honolulu Symphony, at the historic Hawaii Theatre in Honolulu.

Ahn is a graduate of New England Conservatory, where he studied and trained under the tutelage of the world-renowned tenor Vinson Cole.

WINNER

San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle

Principal Actor in a Musical

Guang
STUCK ELEVATOR by Au Yong & Jafferis
American Conservatory Theater
2013

Yves Abel

David Agler

David Angus

Bruno Aprea

Matthew Aucoin

Nicholas Cleobury

James Conlon

Christian Curnyn

Leslie Dala

Arthur Fagen

Giuseppe Finzi

Asher Fisch

Hal France

Christopher Franklin

Valerio Galli

Oliver Gooch

Keitaro Harada

Seokwon Hong

Joan Landry

Patrick Lange

Stephen Lord

James Lowe

Nicola Luisotti

Ryan McAdams

Geoffrey McDonald

Joseph Rescigno

Carlo Rizzi

Pietro Rizzo

Gil Rose

Corrado Rovaris

Carl St. Clair

David Stern

José Ramon Tebar

Antony Walker

Dean Williamson

Judith Yan

Xian Zhang

Edward Berkeley

Nicola Berloffa

Garnett Bruce

Michael Cavanagh

Ron Daniels

Renaud Doucet

Peter DuBois

Eric Einhorn

David Freeman

David Gately

Allison Grant

John Hoomes

Gina Lapinski

Shawna Lucey

Leon Majors

Brian Macdonald

Sarah Meyers

Alison Moritz

Robert Neu

Matthew Ozawa

Nicola Panzer

Denni Sayers

David Schweizer

Leslie Swackhamer

Bernard Uzan

Justin Way

Robert Wilson

Chay Yew

Tomer Zvulun

Aspen Music Festival & School
Aspen Opera Theater Center

2010

Bégearss
THE GHOSTS OF VERSAILLES by Corigliano

New England Conservatory of Music

B.M. Vocal Performance
2006 - 2008

The Impresario
THE IMPRESARIO by Mozart
2008

Egisto
EGISTO by Cavalli
2008

Roger Doremus
SUMMER AND SMOKE by Hoiby
2007

Mercury
ORPHEUS IN THE UNDERWORLD by Offenbach
2007

Sailor
DIDO AND AENEAS by Purcell
2007

The Son
THE BREASTS OF TIRÉSIAS by Poulenc
2006

University of Washington

2004 - 2006

Basilio
LE NOZZE DI FIGARO by Mozart
2006

Orphée
ORPHÉE AUX ENFERS by Offenbach
2005

Hawaii Opera Theatre
Mae Z. Orvis Opera Studio

2001 - 2004

St. Brioche
THE MERRY WIDOW by Léhar
Hawaii Opera Theatre
2004

Parpignol
LA BOHÈME by Puccini
Hawaii Opera Theatre
2003

Kaspar
AMAHL AND THE NIGHT VISITORS by Menotti
2002 & 2003

La Théière, et. al.
L'ENFANT ET LES SORTILÈGES by Ravel
2001