The lyrical leggiero tenor Kangyoon Shine Lee was born in Seoul, Korea. He graduated from the Korea National University of Arts, where he received numerous scholarships and performed as a soloist in opera productions under the direction of Maestro Carlo Palleschi. During his studies, he performed the roles of Don Ottavio ("Don Giovanni"), Ernesto ("Don Pasquale"), and Nemorino ("L'elisir d'amore"). In 2024, he graduated with a Konzertexamen from the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin, where he studied with Wolfram Rieger. Before that, he studied with Kammersänger Roman Trekel for this master's degree.
In the 2021/22 season, he performed in Verdi's "La Traviata" and Shostakovich's "The Nose" at the Komische Oper Berlin under the direction of Ainārs Rubiķis and interpreted the tenor solo in Rossini's "Petite messe solennelle" at the Berlin Cathedral. He was also heard as Tamino in "Die Zauberflöte" and performed in a Mozart gala at the Immling Festival, and was invited to perform in the "Opera Gala of Young Stars" at the Carinthian Summer Festival in Villach.
Kangyoon Shine Lee is a winner of several Korean competitions and won the Belvedere Competition in 2021, which earned him a contract with the Deutsche Oper Berlin. He made his house debut there as Almaviva in "Il barbiere di Siviglia" in December 2022 and was subsequently re-invited for Korngold's "Das Wunder der Heliane" and "Il barbiere di Siviglia" in the same season. Lee was also selected by Daniel Barenboim as a soloist for a concert performance of Rossini's "La scala di seta" in Prenzlau and was awarded for his interpretation of the role of Dorvil by the magazine Das Orchester.
In addition, in the 2022/23 season he performed at the Semperoper Dresden in Rossini's "Viaggio a Reims", taking on the roles of Don Luigino and Zefirino under the direction of Gaetano d'Espinosa. In the spring of 2023, he made his debut at Theater Erfurt as Neocles in Rossini's opera "Le Siege de Corinthe", followed by another debut at Staatstheater Darmstadt as Don Ottavio in "Don Giovanni".
Projects in the 2023/24 season included his return to Deutsche Oper Berlin for the revivals of Rossini's "Il viaggio a Reims" as well as the staged production of Bach's "St. Matthew Passion", performing the tenor arias under the direction of Alessandro de Marchi and the stage direction of Benedikt von Peter. He performed in Lera Auerbach's 6th Symphony with Dresden Philharmonic as well as in Ravel's "L'heure espagnole" in Singapore.
Since the 2024/25 season he is member of the ensemble at Deutsche Oper Berlin where he performed in "Die Zauberflöte", "Tannhäuser", "Don Carlo" und "La Traviata", among others. With the Dresden Philharmonic he sings the shepherd in "Tristan und Isolde" in March 2025.