
Hyeseoung Kwon
Biography
Mariana graduated from Seoul’s Han-Yang University with a Bachelor of Vocal & Opera Music and obtained a diploma in Opera Performance with high distinction at the Conservatorium of Milan and the Vercelli Academy in Italy. Under the baton of Maestro Riccardo Chailly and Romano Gandolfi, she performed as a Soprano soloist in Milan and throughout Italy in Rossini’s Petite Messe Solenelle, Poulenc’s Gloria, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and Rossini’s Stabat Mater.
Since relocating to Australia, Mariana has performed many of the major lyric soprano roles with Opera Australia including Mimi (La Bohème), Liù (Turandot), Cio-Cio-San (Madama Butterfly), Pamina (The Magic Flute), Countess (The Marriage of Figaro), Fiordiligi (Così fan Tutte), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Giulietta (I Capuleti e i Montecchi ), Alcina (Alcina), Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi), Leila (The Pearlfishers), Micaela (Carmen), Genovieffa (Suor Angelica), Dorinda (Orlando), Heavenly Being 1, and Soprano Solo (The Pilgrim’s Progress), as well as special performances as Micaela for Opera Australia in Taipei. She has also performed Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Mimi ( La Boheme), Cio-Cio-San (Madama Butterfly), and Liù (Turandot) for Opera Queensland.
Mariana has been a soloist for Carmina Burana with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Missa Solemnis with Sydney Philharmonia and Auckland Choral Society, Opera in the Vineyards, Stanthorpe, and Mozart’s Requiem as well as numerous concerts and recitals in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Canberra.
She has worked under noted conductors including Riccardo Chailly, Richard Hickox, Patrick Summers, Johannes Fritzsch, Guillaume Tourniaire, Pietari Inkinen, Christian Badea, Jonathan Darlington, Andrea Licata, and Muhia Tang.
Mariana was the winner of the Australian Singing Competition’s prestigious Opera Award and the MBS Young Performers Award in 2002. She has been nominated for Helpmann (Micaela) and Greenroom Awards in 2008 and 2009.