Seongju Oh has been a permanent member of Rundfunkchor Berlin since 1998.
He was born in Busan (Pusan), the second largest city of South Korea, and while still in school was already taking part in various singing competitions. At the age of 16, he won first prize in a competition sponsored by a Japanese newspaper and, at 17, second prize in the singing competition of the Korean television network MBC. In parallel with his singing activities, he began composing, and by the age of 20 he had published 33 choral works and art-songs, of which the sacred song “The River of Grace” has achieved recognition throughout South Korea and is frequently broadcast on Asian radio.
Seongju Oh’s special love is for sacred music. After finishing school he directed several church choirs in his native country and acquired pedagogical experience as the director of seminars for church musicians.
In January 1990 he went to study in Germany. After earning his diploma in singing in 1994 at the Trossingen Musikhochschule (Baden-Württemberg), he continued his education with Manfred Schreier (choral direction) and Josef Sinz (singing). In 1996 he led a course in church music at the Protestant theology school in Sofia. As a soloist and ensemble singer, he performs in Germany, France, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Canada and the USA. He has also made several CDs of songs, arias, his own works, and symphonic choral works under conductors including Nicol Matt.
Oh’s repertoire embraces the tenor parts in the great masses, passions and oratorios, as well as lieder, numerous cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach and Classical and Romantic works. After completing his studies he sang as a freelance in the Bavarian Radio Chorus. Since 1998, as a first tenor, he has been a permanent member of Rundfunkchor Berlin, with whom his appearances have included the solo tenor part in Mozart’s Requiem at the 2004 Sing-Along Concert.
In addition, Seongju Oh is active in Berlin as a choral director. In 2000 he formed the Lindenkirche church choir in the district of Wilmersdorf. A year later, together with Korean singing students and professional singers, he founded the ambitious Berlin Korean Vocal Ensemble, under the patronage of the noted bass Kwangchul Youn. In 2007 he established the Berlin Korean Concert Choir (www.koreanischer-konzertchor.com) and in 2009 founded Cantus Grunewald (www.cantus-grunewald.de).
In spite of his many and diverse performing activities, Seongju Oh finds time to write poetry and to pursue his calling as a composer. His works have been premiered by his own choruses and by members of Rundfunkchor Berlin as well as various instrumentalists. Further information at www.seongju-oh.de.
