Soprano Sumi Jo is marking the 40th anniversary of her international career with a new album, a fresh partnership with K-pop powerhouse SM Entertainment and a yearlong slate of concerts and mentorship projects that she hopes will carry her legacy into the next generation. At a press conference in Seoul on Wednesday, the 61-year-old singer looked back on four decades of breakthroughs, beginning with her 1986 debut as Gilda in Verdi’s “Rigoletto” at Teatro Verdi in Trieste, Italy. Since winning major competitions and joining leading opera houses abroad, Jo has built a globe-spanning career that has taken her to the world’s top stages, from La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera to concert halls across Asia, Europe and the Americas. She became the first Asian to sweep seven major vocal competitions and star as prima donna at five of the world’s leading opera houses. Also, she became the first Asian and first Korean to win a Grammy for Best Opera Recording and Commandeur of France’s Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Her exclusive recording contract with SM Entertainment is central to t
