Jade L  
Instruments: Piano, Voice
Styles: Classical, Folk, Gospel, Musical Theater, Opera

I am a soprano who has trained in voice and opera. I earned my Post-Graduate Diploma with honors from the Juilliard School of Music, a Master of Music Degree from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and a Bachelor Degree in Voice and Music Education with honors from Ewha Woman's University in Seoul, South Korea. A native of Seoul, Korea, where I received my early musical training. I earned widespread critical acclaim for my many fine performances with opera companies across the United States, in Europe and in S. Korea. I was mostly noted for my portrayal of Cio-Cio San, appearing in the role for two seasons in six years with the Arizona Opera in Tucson and Phoenix, with Nevada Opera Theatre in Las Vegas, Sarasota opera in Sarasota, FL, Nevada Opera Association in Reno, NV, The Westchester Lyric Festival in White Plains, NY, Opera Delaware in Wilmington, DE, Brooklyn Opera Society in NY as well as with Choong-Bouk Opera in Korea. Highlights of my career include recitals in U.S. cities such as Philadelphia, Washington D.C., St Paul, Princeton, Wilmington and New York City as well as in Busan, Korea, Porto Alegre, Brazil and Brussels, Belgium, as well as special concerts on Great Opera Arias in Switzerland and for the Holiday Dinner Concert at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. Recently, she was invited to perform the operatic aria, “Un bel di” from Madama Butterfly and a Russian song by S. Rachmaninoff for the benefit concert for Haiti at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center in New York City. (www.theworldwater.org – “Water for Haiti” Benefit Concert) On June 14, 2012, as a Featured Artist, performed at the Fundraising Gala Dinner of the American Cancer Society-Asian Initiatives in Flushing, NY. I was personally invited to give a guest performance of Madama Butterfly for the Master Class of Madame Licia Albanese at Marymount Manhattan College in New York City. A taped version of my very first "Madama Butterfly", produced by the National Educational Television Network and the Brooklyn Opera Society, was aired on local PBS television in the New York Metropolitan Area. Recently, I was featured as a guest on Focus on Women with Florence Rapaport on Cable Vision in Long Island, NY. The tape of this appearance has been preserved at the Schlesinger Library of Harvard University (Women of the 20th Century in America). I was also on Good Morning America on ABC in Philadelphia, as well as on a Korean television show and on Manhattan Cable TV in New York City. As a guest soloist, , I was invited to perform with Pyongyang National Philharmonic Orchestra during “The 27th Spring International Art Festival” in Pyongyang, N. Korea with a Gold Prize Award as an excellent artist, with Busan Civic Philharmonic Orchestra, the Chung-Ju Civic Orchestra in Korea, and the Hollywood Wilshire Symphony Orchestra in Los Angeles, CA. For the Haiti Benefit Concert in Alice Tully Hall of Lincoln Center in March 2010, I performed as a vocal soloist with a group of internationally renowned and active musicians who are the alumni of the Juilliard School of Music. As a Featured Artist, I was invited to perform for the American Cancer Society’s Fundraising Gala Concert in Flushing, NY in June 2012 PRESS REVIEW “As a singing actor, Lim knows Puccini’s tunes and harmonies are why we care about Butterfly ... Lim gives melody everything we want to hear ... To avoid an artificial Butterfly requires a great deal of art by Lim ... Lim’s solo voice is expressive and thoroughly musical, never diving over the edge but piercing us with each of Butterfly’s momentary moods. Maintaining a dignity that’s not rigid ... Lim colors each step precisely.” Gazette Journal----Reno, Nevada “Certainly much of its effectiveness is due to the personal charm and authentically Oriental presence and grace of gesture and movement of the Korean singer, Ok-Ja Lim. Her small person houses a surprisingly large, perfectly focused lyric soprano voice of a very individual quality. Particularly fine in the upper range, whether fortissimo high B-flat of the “Un bel di” in the second act, her voice never lost its focus or its full, round quality. Her portrayal of Cio-Cio-San coupled with a childlike propriety with a flirtatious submissiveness over a core of steel, at once captivating while commanding sympathy and respect.” Sarasota Herald Tribune----Sarasota, Florida “The long-awaited and anticipated Butterfly was beyond our expectations ... never such a “Madama Butterfly” as this, Ok-Ja Lim, a girl from South Korea, whose liquid voice and acting ability were so natural, so superb. She was truly “Madama Butterfly” ------for real!” The Longboat Observer----Florida “Performances in this production are uniformly outstanding. Of particular note is Ok-Ja Lim as Madama Butterfly ... Vocal capacity and stamina, sense of dramatic action and overall creation of the environment are most supremely demonstrated by performers.” Arts in Our Town----Sarasota, Florida “Ok-Ja Lim-Superb as Butterfly, Miss Lim’s mastery of this difficult role is a marvelous achievement. Such music from this woman who must be about ...?” Pelican Press----Sarasota, Florida Giacomo Puccini Would Have Been Delighted! “All the elements have come together on a top-quality level; Ok-Ja Lim’s voice is extraordinary, true, strong and warm. Add the inimitable charm of her movement, and you have found the ideal of what Cio-Cio San should be.” The Music Scene by Herman Baar, The Longboat Observer----Florida “An exquisite Madama Butterfly, in the person of soprano Ok-Ja Lim, makes Giacomo Puccini’s opera a delight to see and hear.” Sarasota Herald----Sarasota, Florida “Opera singer and honorary co-chairman, Renata Scotto , applauded the performance and commented on the high calibre of the production with special kudos to Ok-Ja Lim’s portrayal of Madama Butterfly.” New York Medical College----White Plains, New York “Soprano Ok-Ja Lim is a Butterfly of the very highest calibre ... She’s simply wonderful; a strong, warm, effortless soprano, a major voice just waiting to be discovered, I have yet to see or hear a more beautiful Butterfly.” Bright and Early with Gregg Whiteside, WQXR, New York Times -New York City “Somehow the Sarasota Opera has managed to find a fragile and delicate Butterfly who dramatizes the vulnerability of the character. Furthermore, she actually looks Oriental. That’s because she really is Oriental. She is Korean and her name is Ok-Ja Lim.” Critic at Large, Eyewitness News----WTOG TV, Ch. 44----Sarasota, Florida “Puccini’s Madama Butterfly was particularly effective was due in great part to the personal charm, authentically Oriental presence, and grace of gesture and movement of Korean soprano Ok-Ja Lim and to the fact that her surprisingly large, perfectly focused lyric soprano voice never lost its full round quality.” Opera Canada - Canada “In such a production, Cio-Cio San cannot be a withering blossom, and Korean soprano Ok-Ja Lim was not. She has a full, almost mezzoish voice, stronger in the middle and lower register, and she used it to portray a woman who is worldly wise, even a bit tough at the age of 15.” St. Petersburg Times ----St. Petersburg, Florida “Miss Lim still makes the most adorable and enchanting Butterfly I have ever seen, and the most authentic never a more impressive characterization. She even manages to create the illusion of a 15-year-old girl on stage. Miss Lim, who is Korean, is an appealing actress in addition to being an excellent singer. She looks the part to perfection and is completely charming.” News Journal ---- Wilmington, DE “Petite Ok-Ja Lim, a native of Korea and an alumna of Temple University’s opera program, portrayed the ill-fated Japanese heroine with close attention to the role’s dramatic possibilities; her singing matched her acting in intensity.” Philadelphia Inquirer ---- Philadelphia, PA “Miss Lim’s singing and acting were fantastic. Her voice was powerful and resilient in her flawless portrayal of Cio-Cio San prepared to end her life. There was hardly a dry eye in the theater.” Tucson Citizen ----Tucson, AZ “The season’s Butterfly, adorable Ok-Ja Lim, gave her seamless spun-gold soprano to Puccini; first with exquisite pathos for “Turandot”, then simmering in the all-too-short “Chi il bel sogno di Doretta” from “La Rondine.” Sarasota Herald Tribune ----Sarasota, Florida “Miss Lim was at her best in four Rachmaninoff works sung in Russian. She was able to let her voice out in an operatic manner, and the big phrases had a line and dramatic power. The voice has an instrumental timbre with a touch of hardness that is very effective at full strength.” The New York Times ----New York, NY “Delightful is the best way to describe Miss Lim in the “trouser” role of Oscar. She cavorted across the stage while trilling her voice and elicited lots of laughter, especially when snatching the wig from the head of a pompous judge ...” Chattanooga Times ----Chattanooga, TN