byungkoo ahn, opera director, opera directing, stage director, theater director
STAGE DIRECTOR / TENOR / PLAYWRIGHT / THEATRE EDUCATOR
B R I A N B Y U N G K O O A H N
MFA, SDC
byungkoo ahn, opera director, opera directing, stage director, theater director, stage directing, ucla directing, brian ahn, hamyul
About
Brian Byungkoo Ahn is a director and theatre-maker working across opera, theatre, dance, and music-driven performance. His practice is centered on intercultural creation that blends Asian and Western performance traditions—not as an academic exercise, but as a living theatrical language for addressing contemporary questions of identity, power, desire, and social change. Across his work, Ahn combines conservatory rigor with image-driven staging and ensemble-based process, shaping performances in which rhythm, movement, and visual composition carry narrative weight alongside text and music.
Ahn made his directorial debut at age 20, when Cavalleria Rusticana was presented at the National Theatre of Korea as part of the Young Theatre Festival. Since then, his productions have been presented internationally for nearly three decades, with work seen across Korea, the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, and the Czech Republic. His projects have been featured by major venues and festivals, including La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (New York), the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Spoleto Festival, the Seoul International Performing Arts Festival, and the National Theatre of Korea.
Born into a three-generation Korean theatre family, Ahn holds an MFA from UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television, where he was the inaugural recipient of the MAMPIST Award from the Samsung Foundation of the Culture. He subsequently trained in opera and voice in Italy and the Czech Republic, completed internships with Los Angeles Opera, Opéra national de Paris, and Long Beach Opera, and studied opera-aria and art-song interpretation for many years with the late Dr. Natalie Limonick. This conservatory foundation, combined with his Korean theatrical heritage, informs an artistic approach that honors inherited forms while continuously testing how theatre can speak to the present.
Ahn is known for intercultural adaptations that merge Asian aesthetics—such as Japanese Noh, Korean court dance and music, and Korean shamanic ritual—with Western dramatic structures. His Shakespeare adaptations include Hamyul/Hamlet (La MaMa ETC, 2011) and Hello, Hell, Othello (Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 2023). The New York Times described Hamyul/Hamlet as “beguiling to watch,” noting its “delicious mood of menace,” while Hello, Hell, Othello—presented as part of the Korean Season at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe—received multiple four- and five-star reviews, with The Scottish Field calling it “eerie and devastatingly beautiful.”
His signature music-theatre work 13 Fruitcakes (2019–2021), which he conceived, directed, and produced, explores identity, gender, and social change through the lives of thirteen historic LGBTQ+ figures across the arts, politics, literature, and science. Created to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, the production integrates poetry by Lorca, Whitman, Wilde, Rimbaud, and other queer writers into an original score by composer Gihieh Lee. The New York Times recognized the work among World Pride 2019 productions not to be missed; following its La MaMa premiere (2019), it was presented in Seoul (2019, 2020), officially selected for the 2020 Seoul International Performing Arts Festival, and livestreamed from the National Theatre of Korea via NAVER TV, reaching thousands of viewers. Critic Eleanor Bader described it as “a dazzling multi-media extravaganza,” and BroadwayWorld noted that its style was “frequently operatic and deeply emotional.” Invited to the Korean Season at the 2020 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the digital production later streamed through the 2021 Edinburgh Festival Fringe on Demand, received multiple four- and five-star reviews (including praise for its “mastery of the digital theatre medium”), and was officially selected by the Korea Queer Film Festival in the feature film category.
In 2024, Ahn created The Voyage, sponsored by Korea’s National Institute of Organ, Tissue, and Blood Management, a series of socially engaged mini-operas set in a hospital—the place where many lives begin and end. Integrating German art songs by Schumann, Strauss, Brahms, and Schubert, the project aims to open public conversation and raise awareness about organ donation in a cultural context where it has often been difficult to discuss openly. In 2023, he co-authored Teatro coreano contemporaneo (published in Italy), featuring Italian translations of three seminal Korean contemporary plays—The Song of Cheoyong (Chijin Yoo), Once Upon a Time, Shoo-shoo (Inhoon Choi), and The Journey of the Bones (Haryong Baek)—co-translated with Andrea Paciotto, marking the start of his ongoing translation work to expand international access to Korean theatre and deepen cross-cultural exchange.
Ahn currently serves as Assistant Professor at Seoul Institute of the Arts, where he teaches Directing, Acting, and Voice. He is the Founding Artistic Director of the Singing Actors Repertory Company and serves on the Board of Directors of La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in New York, where he is also a resident artist.
Education
Master of Fine Arts
Theatre Directing
U.C.L.A., USA
Diploma
Voice
Konzervtor Brno, Czech Republic
Bachelor of Arts
Theater Directing
Dongguk University, Korea
Professional Diploma
Opera Vocal Performance Accademia Musicale “G. Donizetti”, Italy
Directing Credits
The Voyage: Musical Vignettes
The Merry Hall Theatre, Seoul, Korea, 2024
Director/Writer/Production Designer/Performer/Co-Producer
The National Institute of Organ, Tissue and Blood Management’s Life Sharing Grant production
The Korean Rhapsody
Spoleto Due Mondi Festival, La Mama Spoleto Open, Spoleto, Italy, 2024
Artistic Director/Co-Producer
Presented 5 Korean shows for the festival
The Voyage: Musical Vignettes
Spoleto Due Mondi Festival, La Mama Spoleto Open, Spoleto, Italy, 2024
Director/Writer/Production Designer/Performer/Co-Producer
The Voyage II: Musical Vignettes
Hooam Stage, Seoul, Korea, 2024
Director/Writer/Production Designer/Performer/Co-Producer
Hello, the Hell, Othello
The Good Theatre, Seoul, Korea, 2024
Director/Writer/Set and Costume Designer
Official Selection for the Korean Season at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
13 Fruitcakes
The National Jeongdong Theatre of Korea, Soeul, Korea, 2023
Director/Writer/Producer
Official Selection for the National Jeongdong Theatre’s 2023 Season.
Hello, the Hell, Othello*
Assembly Rooms, The Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 2023
Director/Writer/Set and Costume Designer
Official Selection for the Korean Season at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
“MORE” Ziegfeld Follies*
The Festival dei due Mondi, La MaMa Spoleto Open, Spoleto, Italy, 2023
Director/Producer
One-person show featuring Korean drag performer, More.
Il canto di Cheoyong*
The Festival dei due Mondi, La MaMa Spoleto Open, Spoleto, Italy, 2023
Director/Producer
Devised theatre work based on the play of the same title by Chijin Yoo
The Marriage of Pi Galho*
The National Theatre, Seoul, Korea, 2021
Director
New operatic work based on the Marriage of Figaro.
Production of “Singing Actors Repertory Company” sponsored by “Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture”.
13 Fruitcakes
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Edinburgh, UK, 2021
Director/Writer/Producer
Official Selection for the Korean Season at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Streamed online for 3 weeks due to COVID-19.
13 Fruitcakes
Korea Queer Film Festival, Seoul, Korea, 2021
Director/Writer/Producer
“Special Selection” for the Korea Queer Film Festival 2021 as a feature film.
Myungyeh, the Musical
Paju Civic Arts Center, Paju, Korea 2020
Director
A new Korean contemporary musical theatre.
Production of Paju Civic Arts Company.
1828, Yeon Kyung Dang*
National Gugak Center, Seoul, Korea 2020
Director/Writer
Korean Traditional Court Dance Production by the National Traditional Arts Company of Korea.
Recreation of Dance Manuscript by Prince Hyomyung Dating Back to 1828.
13 Fruitcakes
Seoul International Performing Arts Festival; ARKO Arts Theatre of Korea, Seoul, Korea 2020
Director/Writer/Producer
Official Selection for the SPAF. Experimental LGBTQ Musical Theatre. Production co-produced by “La MaMa ETC” and “Singing Actors Repertory Company”.
13 Fruitcakes
Baekam Art Hall, Seoul, Korea 2019
Director/Writer/Producer
Experimental LGBTQ Musical Theatre Production Co-Produced by “La MaMa ETC” and “Singing Actors Repertory Company”.
13 Fruitcakes*
La MaMa ETC, New York, New York 2019
Director/Writer/Producer
Experimental LGBTQ Musical Theatre Production Co-Produced by “La MaMa ETC” and “Singing Actors Repertory Company” as part of La MaMa’s Stonewall 50.
To You at the Speed of Light
JTN Theatre, Seoul, Korea, 2018
Director/co-Writer
A Musical Theatre Production by Lucky Blue Company
Three Women
Munhak Civic Theatre, Incheon, Korea, 2018
Director/co-W riter/Co-Producer
Experimental Opera based on La Bohem, La Traviata, and La Madama Butterfly featuring ‘The Singing Actors Group International’ Invited by the City of Incheon
Three Women, Admitted
La Mama Spoleto Open, Itlay, 2017
Director/Writer/Co-Producer
Experimental Opera based on La Bohem, La Traviata, and La Madama Butterfly featuring ‘The Singing Actors Group International’
Tre Donne, Ammesse
La Mama Spoleto Open, Itlay, 2017
Director/Writer/Co-Producer
Experimental Opera based on La Bohem, La Traviata, and La Madama Butterfly featuring ‘The Singing Actors GroupInternational’
Three Women, Admitted
The National Theatre, Seoul, Korea, 2017
Director/Writer/Co-Producer
Experimental Opera based on La Bohem, La Traviata, and La Madama Butterfly featuring ‘The Singing Actors Group International’
Voyage: Musical Vignettes
HamburgerSprechwerk, Hamburg, Germany, 2017
Director/Writer/Production Designer/Performer/Co-Producer
A Series of Musical Vignettes/mini operas with German Art Songs.
Featuring ‘The Cole Laptop Ensemble’, US and ‘The Singing Actors Group’, Korea.
Voyage: Musical Vignettes
Kulturhaus ‘alte feuerwache’, Berlin, Germany, 2017
Director/Writer/Production Designer/Performer/Co-Producer
A Series of Musical Vignettes/mini operas with German Art Songs.
Featuring ‘The Cole Laptop Ensemble’, US and ‘The Singing Actors Group’, Korea.
Dido and Aeneas, Admitted
The National Theatre of Korea, Seoul, Korea, 2016
Director/Co-Producer
An Adaptation of an Opera by Henry Purcell featuring ‘The Singing Actors Group International’
Nakrang
Bucheon Civic Stadium, Bucheon, Korea, 2015
Director
A Circus Musical Theatre Production by Buchoen Symphony Orchestra and Dongchun Circus Company.
Days & Nights, Four Chekhovian Interludes
Art Theatre Moon, Seoul, Korea, 2015 Director/Playwright
Four theatrical adaptations of A. Chekhov’s short stories.
The Rite of Autumn: Rituals and Celebrations
Naru Centre for the Arts, Seoul, Korea, 2013
Director/Writer/Co-Producer
7 Musical Vignettes by Brian Byungkoo Ahn and Opera Music Gala featuring ‘The Singing Actors Group International’.
Brian Ahn’s 7 Musical Veignettes
Sungam Arts Centre, Seoul, Korea, 2013
Director/Music Director/Writer/Co-Producer
7 Musical Vignettes by Brian Byungkoo Ahn featuring ‘The Singing Actors Group International’.
Voyage: Musical Vignettes
La MaMa Spoleto Open, Spoleto Due Mondi Festival, Italy, 2013
Director/Writer/Production Designer/Performer/Co-Producer
The world premiere of the series of Musical Vignettes/mini operas with German art songs. Featuring ‘The Cole Laptop Ensemble’, US and ‘The Singing Actors Group’, Korea.
The Merry Widow
Naru Centre for the Arts, Seoul, Korea, 2013
DirectorProduction of Kim Haknam Opera Company.
Jonah
The National Theatre of Korea, Seoul, Korea, 2013
Director/Performer/Co-Production Designer/Co-Producer
New oratorio by JY Choi. Featuring ‘The Singing Actors Group’.
A Joke
The National Theatre of Korea, Seoul, Korea, 2013
Director/Book/Lyrics/Co-Production Designer/Co-Producer
New musical theater composed by JY Choi. Featuring ‘The Singing Actors Group’.
Love and Dream, Painted with Songs
The National Theatre of Korea, Seoul, Korea, 2013
Director/Writer/Production Designer/Co-Producer/Music Director
Opera/Musical Theater Gala and 3 New Musical Vignettes. Featuring ‘The Singing Actors Group’.
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat
Kookmin Main Theatre, Seoul, Korea, 2012
Director
Kookmin University Theatre Program production.
Mozart Opera Highlights
The National Theatre of Korea, Seoul, Korea, 2012
Director
Korean Chamber Opera Company’s 4-hour excerpts from Le nozze di Figaro, Cosi fan tutte, Don Giovanni, and Zauberlote.
Hamyul/Hamlet
La MaMa ETC, New York, NY, 2011
Director/Co-Writer/Co-Producer
A Korean adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
The Doctor
LaMaMa ETC, New York, NY, 2009
Director/Writer
A chamber opera composed by Martin Herman based on Anton Chekhov’s short story of the same title.
A Joke
La MaMa ETC, New York, NY, 2009
Director/WriterA musical theatre composed by Younghun Lee based on Anton Chekhov’s short story of the same title.
Director-composer collaboration of new work development.
B-Alive!
La MaMa ETC, New York, NY, 2008
Director
A touring dance theatre production with world champion B-Boys and Hip-Hop dancers.
The Doctor
The Music Now Prague Festival, Czech Republic
Director/Writer/Production Designer
New chamber opera composed by Martin Herman based on Anton Chekhov’s short story of the same title.
Director-composer collaboration of new work development. The Californian production was invited to Prague and Bruno in Czech Republic funded by Trust for Mutual Understanding.
Orlando
Long Beach Opera-Downtown Opera, CA
Director/Co-Production DesignerChamber opera composed by Martin Herman. The original story by Virginia Woolf. Director-composer collaboration of new work development.
Consumer’s Paradise
Long Beach Opera-Downtown Opera, CA
Director/Co-Production Designer
Opera composed by William HoustonDirector-composer collaboration of new work development.
Dido & Aeneas
CSULB Opera, Long Beach, CA
Director
Fully-staged student opera production of California State University Opera Program. Composed by H. Purcell.
Der Schauspieldirektor
CSULB Opera, Long Beach
Director
Fully-staged student opera production of California State University Opera Program. Composed by W. A. Mozart.
Operatic Scene Highlights
CSULB Opera, Long Beach
Director
Various scenes from La Rondine, Der Rosenkavalie, La Traviata, Dialogue des Carmetlies, and Centrillon.
Telephone
West Valley Opera Theater, Los Angeles, CA
Director/Production Designer
Opera composed by G.C. Menotti
Coffee Cantata
West Valley Opera Theater, Los Angeles, CA
Director/Production DesignerFully staged opera style cantata J. S. Bach.
Amahl & the Night Visitors
La Calisto
Days & Nights
The Fishbow
The Hostage
Antigone
The Letter & 4 plays by S. Beckett
Cavalleria rusticana
and More
