Baek’s critically acclaimed portrayal of Samson was not only a house and role debut, but also his professional debut as a tenor, having transitioned from baritone over the coronavirus lockdown period. As a baritone, he was an Adler Fellow and a member of the Merola Programme at the San Francisco Opera, as well as a former resident artist of the Lyric Opera of Kansas and an alumnus of the Manhattan School of Music.
Highlights of the 2026/27 season include role debuts as Dick Johnson in Puccini’s La fanciulla del West for The Metropolitan Opera and as Luigi Il tabbarro for Royal Ballet & Opera, Covent Garden. Baek makes house debuts with Dutch National Opera as Turridu in a new production of Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and with Semperoper Dresden as Cavaradossi in Puccini's Tosca, and further reprises the roles of Cavaradossi & Radamès Aida for The Metropolitan Opera, and Pinkerton Madama Butterfly for Covent Garden. On the concert platform, Baek stars in The Metropolitan Opera’s Diamond Jubilee Gala Concert and appears in a series of Verismo concerts with the orchestra of the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
During the previous season, Baek made debuts with the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Turridu Cavalleria Rusticana, the Bayerische Staatsoper as Macduff Macbeth, Korean National Opera as Calaf Turandot, and at the Arena di Verona as Calaf & Radamès Aida. He also returned to The Metropolitan Opera as Pinkerton Madama Butterfly, Deutsche Oper Berlin as Radamès & Calaf, and to Covent Garden in the title role in Samson et Dalila. Other recent highlights include Calaf for Teatro San Carlo, Radamès for Teatro del Maggio Musical Fiorentino & Deutsche Oper Berlin, as well as Cavaradossi & Rodolfo La Bohème for Arizona Opera.
Baek made his much-anticipated Metropolitan Opera debut in 2023 as Ismaele in Verdi’s Nabucco, and has been invited to return each subsequent season. Roles at The Metropolitan Opera have included Calaf Turandot, Cavaradossi Tosca, Radamès Aida and Pinkerton Madama Butterfly. Since making his debut at the Royal Ballet & Opera, Covent Garden in 2022, Baek has also appeared as Pinkerton, Radamès, Turiddu, Cavaradossi & Calaf.
Baek recently made his debuts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis (Gustavo Dudamel), the Boston Symphony Orchestra as Cavaradossi Tosca (Andris Nelsons) at the Tanglewood Festival, Orchestre Métropolitain as Radamès Aida (Yannick Nézet-Séguin) at the Lanaudière Festival and at the Salzburg Osterfestspiele. Other concert highlights include Verdi’s Requiem in Baek’s BBC Proms debut performance at the Royal Albert Hall, and with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Sir Antonio Pappano), Royal Danish Orchestra (Bertrand de Billy), and Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra (Zubin Mehta).
2026/27 season - 485 words. Not to be altered without permission.