La Poem

La Poem (라포엠 in Korean) is a Korean male crossover vocal group, composed of four classically-trained singers Chaehoon You, Ki-hun Park, Minseong Jeong, and Sunghoon Choi. La Poem was formed in July 2020 via a reality audition TV show, and has been actively performing in various venues (e.g., concerts, TV shows, awards opening). They made their official debut with the 1st mini-album Scene#1 in December 2020. 
La Poem is a male crossover quartet originated from a TV show Phantom Singer – Season 3 (Phantom Singer 3) aired on a Korean TV network jtbc from April 10 to July 3 in 2020. The TV show auditions male singers who are trained mostly in classical music and musical theaters, and selects three teams of a quartet to compete in the end. Having two rounds of competition, La Poem won by most votes of viewers of the show on July 3 in 2020, debutting as a crossover music group. The group’s name La Poem came from a combination of the French word “la boheme and the English word “poem”, signifying the group’s desire to sing freely poem-like songs that will remain in everyone's heart.
La Poem is composed of four classically-trained singers: two tenors Chaehoon You and Ki-hun Park, one baritone Minseong Jeong, and one countertenor Sunghoon Choi. The two tenors have different vocal types as Chaehoon is considered a leggero tenor and Ki-hun a spinto tenor. The fact that the countertenor Sunghoon's vocal range is equivalent to that of a female singer adds unique flavors to their singing compared to typical male vocal quartets.
Each member studied vocal music in high school and university and thus shares similar training backgrounds.
=== Chaehoon You ===
Chaehoon went to Hanyang University in Seoul, Korea following Pohang High School of Arts located in his hometown Pohang, Korea. He was one of top students at the entry of the university. Yet, he tried hard to make his way out to popular music markets rather than classical music theaters. After graduating from the university, he continued to sing on many stages and joined popera groups Awesome and Ekklesia, but did not make any noticeable marks in the market. Chaehoon You’s celebrity status, albeit quite limited, finally took off after he sang Il Mondo at his first appearance on the TV show Phantom Singer 3. He has gained a lot of ardent supporters and fans since then. 
=== Ki-hun Park ===
Ki-hun went to Seoul National University in Seoul, Korea following Busan High School of Arts located in his hometown Busan, Korea. He graduated from the university as one of top students. He won many awards from many competitions domestically and internationally while being a university student. In particular, he was awarded Deuxieme Grand Prix (i.e., a runner-up) at the 51st International Singing Competition of Toulouse held in 2016. At that time, he was only 21 years of age. Ki-hun Park is the youngest member of La Poem and introduces himself as a bulgot (meaning “flame”) tenor as his firey vocal power signifies. 
=== Minseong Jeong ===
Minseong went to Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea following Incheon High School of Arts in Incheon, Korea. He also won many awards from many domestic singing competitions (e.g., the grand prize at Deagu singing competition in 2019). At the time of preliminary auditions of Phantom Singer 3, he had just started more advanced singing training in Folkwang University of the Arts in Germany. As the audition took place in Germany, he went for it and was selected as one of thirty-six competitors. He initially wanted to take a leave of absence while participating in the show recorded in Korea. As the school did not allow it, he decided to drop and returned to Korea to compete. 
=== Sunghoon Choi ===
Sunghoon went to Korea National University of Arts in Seoul, Korea following Gyeongbuk High School of Arts located in his hometown Daegu, Korea. Moving to France, he continued his singing study at City Conservatory of Paris for two years and at Centre of Baroque Music Versailles thereafter. He then moved to Switzerland and earned a master’s degree at Geneva University of Music. In living in Europe, Sunghoon Choi participated in many competitions, some of which awarded him grand prizes (e.g., Prix D'honneur from Leopold Bellan International Competition in 2015). He also performed on many stages as a soloist and an opera singer until his audition for Phantom Singer 3 held in London was successful and had to return to Korea to comepete with the 36 competitors.
La Poem's debut mini-album Scene#1 was released on December 2 (digitally) and December 22 (in CD) in 2020 by the distribution of Dreamus Company. Since its release, 36,163 albums have been sold.
The album includes 8 songs:
* Amigos Para Siempre 
* Crescent
* Dazzling night (title)
* Early Rain
* Fantasy (with Danny Koo)
* La Tempesta
* Dear My Dear
* O Holy Night (bonus track)​
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Category:South Korean boy bands
Category:South Korean pop music groups
Category:Korean classical music groups
Category:Musical groups established in 2020