In the 2026/27 season, South Korean bass Don Lee will make his debut at the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki as Ramphis in Aida. In the summer of 2026, he will portray Banco in Macbeth at the Heidenheim Opera Festival. During the 2025/26 season, he can be seen at the Staatstheater Karlsruhe in the roles of the Commendatore (Don Giovanni), Colline (La Bohème), Gremin (Eugene Onegin), and Sparafucile (Rigoletto).
Previously, from 2023 to 2025, he was a member of the ensemble at the Staatstheater Kassel, where he enjoyed great success as Fiesco (Simon Boccanegra), Fafner (Der Ring des Nibelungen), and Hunding (Der Ring des Nibelungen). In 2022, he made his debut at Oper Frankfurt, appearing as Padre Guardiano and Il Marchese di Calatrava in the original St. Petersburg version of La forza del destino.
From 2018 to 2022, Don Lee was a member of the ensemble at the Anhaltisches Theater Dessau. There, he performed a wide spectrum of major bass roles, including Zaccaria in Nabucco, Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, King René in Iolanta, as well as Basilio (Il barbiere di Siviglia) and Geronte (Manon Lescaut). He also drew international attention in the summer of 2018 as Timur (Turandot) at the Daegu Opera House in South Korea.
Earlier career highlights took him to Theater Ulm (2012–2016), where he portrayed the role of King Heinrich (Lohengrin), as well as guest appearances at Theater Trier (Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream) and the Staatstheater Meiningen (Cecco del Vecchio in Rienzi).
Following his studies in Seoul and at the University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart, he began his career in the opera studio of the Staatsoper Stuttgart (2009–2010). His first engagements led him to the Thuringian Schlossfestspiele Sondershausen as Don Basilio.