WCS Three Tenors
Seong Won Nam, tenor
- Adjunct Assistant Professor at George Mason School of Music
- Member of the Washington National Opera
- Member of the American Guild of Musical Artists
- President of the Christian Classical Singers
- Artistic Director of the Washington Concert Society
Professor Seong Won Nam is a professional lyric tenor, with a broad background of experience in performance, teaching, leadership, and support. He is well known in the Washington DC area as a focused, dedicated artist and teacher. Seong is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music at George Mason University, Fairfax Virginia, where he supports the vocal music program at George Mason University through personal instruction, evaluation, and curriculum development. In fifteen seasons with the Washington National Opera, Mr. Nam has performed in well over 400 performances. His area leading roles have included Duca (Rigoletto), Faust (Faust), Romeo (Roméo et Juliette), Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor), Macduff (Macbeth), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly) and Nemorino (L’Elisir D’Amore). In addition to these engagements, Mr. Nam is one of founders of the Christian Classical Singers, a group of professional Korean male singers and is the Artistic Director of the Washington Concert Society, a non-profit organization.
Yoonsoo Shin, tenor
- Keimyung University School of Music (BA)
- Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Artist Diploma
- University of Maryland School of Music, Masters of Music.
- Music Director of SeMeHahn Presbyterian Church
- Member of the Christian Classical Singers
Tenor Yoonsoo Shin holds an Artist Diploma from Indiana University and Master’s degree from the University of Maryland where he studied under distinguished artists including Giorgio Tozzi and Dominic Cossa. He has received numerous awards from prestigious competitions such as a study grant with the Licia Albanese Puccinni Foundation, a winner of the Liederkranz Foundation for Voice Competition and a national semi-finalist for the Metropolitan National Opera Competition Auditions. Mr. Shin performed the role of the Duke as a young artist with the Merola program at San Francisco Opera. He has gone on to perform at various leading opera companies in the United States including, Toledo Opera, Cleveland Opera, New York City Opera, Seoul Art Center and San Francisco Opera Merola program and has performed roles such as Rodolfo, Tito, Ferrando, Edgardo, Rinuccio, Ismaele, Pinkerton, Duke, Tamino, Des Grieux and Hoffmann.
James Jongsik Joo, tenor
- Member of the Washington National Opera
- Italy L’Aquila Conservatory
- Italy Pescara Academy Diploma
- Member of the Christian Classical Singers
- Member of the American Guild of Musical Artists
Tenor James Jongsik Joo studied at the National Conservatory of Music in Aquila, Italy. In addition, he earned diploma from Accademia of Musicale pescarese in Italy. He made his operatic debut in Italy at the Rome National Opera house in the 2000 premiere production of L’Eroico Yi Sun Shin, by Nicola Samale. In 2003, he won first place at the International competition for Opera Singer in Taranto, Italy. He performed in California and Hawaii with the Bethesda String quartet as part of the Korean Immigrants Centennial celebration concert tour, and moved to the United States in 2004, where he is now serving as music director/conductor for the National Korean United Methodist Church. He performed as tenor solo of Christmas concert Messiah sing along at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. His most recent performances include Mozart Requiem sing along with New Dominion Choral, and Paul Paray Mess at the National Cathedral with Cathedral Choral Society. Mr. Joo is a member of the Washington National Opera.
William Chang, piano
- Faculty Member of Montgomery College in Germantown, MD
- Choir Director of One Body Church, VA
- Piano Instructor of Blackrock Center for the Arts
- Accompanist of the Christian Classical Singers
- DMA (piano), University of Maryland
- MM (piano), Peabody Conservatory of Music
Dr. William Chang received DMA degree from University of Maryland at College Park. He studied with Ms. Larissa Dedova and chamber music with Ms. Rita Sloan. Also, he studied at Peabody Conservatory of Music for MM degree and at Toho School of Music in Tokyo, Japan for BM degree. He has performed in Japan, Korea, and USA including the Carnegie Recital Hall in NY City. He is currently teaching at Montgomery College and Blackrock Center for the Arts in MD, and Choir Director at One Body Church in VA. His teachers include Boris Slutsky, Marian Hahn, Seth knopp, Yasusi Hirose, Shuku Iwasaki, and Akira Miyoshi.