Kimera (singer)

Kimera
Kimera in June 1985 in Le Havre
Korean name
Hangul	키메라
Revised Romanization	Kimera
McCune–Reischauer	K'imera
Birth name
Hangul	김홍희
Revised Romanization	Gim Hong-hui
McCune–Reischauer	Kim Hong-hŭi

Kimera (born January 10, 1954) is South Korean-born singer, Kim Hong Hee. She developed the style of operatic pop, or popera performing and recording medleys of operatic arias set to a mid-80's form of disco beat, singing in the soprano register.

The third of five children, Kimera has loved singing ever since she can remember. From the age of twelve, she began singing in church choirs, as well as in the Korean National Metropolitan Choir. While attending university, she found she really enjoyed singing pop music as well. However, her father strongly disapproved of pop, which he felt was unsuitable, so she put her love for this genre aside, and eventually stopped singing completely.

Kimera focused on her studies and graduated with a B.A. in French Literature from Sungshin Women's University in Seoul. She then left her native Korea to pursue a post-graduate degree in France, where she studied for an M.A., also in French literature, at the Sorbonne in Paris. While in Paris, her love for singing was reawakened, so she decided to enroll in the École Normale de Musique de Paris to learn operatic technique. After arduous vocal studies, she received in 1984 a Diplôme Supérieur d'Art Lyrique.

Unbeknownst to her parents, Kimera wanted to marry her love of modern music with her love for opera. This culminated in her deciding, in 1984, to set aside her promising career as an opera diva, to create the controversial classic-pop fusion recording, The Lost Opera, with the London Symphony Orchestra. The album promptly entered the British music charts and went on to gather momentum in France, Spain, South Africa, and other countries across the globe.

In 1987, a personal tragedy occurred when her five-year-old daughter, Melodie Nakachian was kidnapped on November 9, and held for ransom for 11 days. Although her daughter was eventually recovered unharmed by the Spanish Grupo Especial de Operaciones, Kimera became reluctant to live a life of celebrity, as she blamed her public lifestyle for the unfortunate incident. As a result, she reduced public performances but continued to practice and record in her home studio at Estepona in the Costa del Sol region.

Kimera, with her four-octave range and novel approach to operatic singing, has intrigued and fascinated many. Millions have embraced her unique opera-pop fusion embodied in various albums starting with The Lost Opera, which sold more than 10 million copies, followed by Opera Express and seven additional albums.