Soprano Sumi Jo Headlines SM Entertainment's First 'CONNECT DAY' Staff Talk

Soprano Sumi Jo visited SM Entertainment's Seongsu headquarters in Seoul on Aug. 13 to headline the company's first in-house lecture of a new employee program.

SM Entertainment said Jo, an exclusive artist under its classical arm SM Classics, was invited as the opening speaker for "CONNECT DAY," an internal series built around sharing industry insight with staff.

Asked what drew her to the partnership, Jo kept her answer short. "SM is the best, isn't it? The best recognizes the best," she said.

The session also brought a familiar face into the room. EXO's Suho, who features on "Romance" from Jo's 40th anniversary album, stopped by the talk. The two shared how they finished the track through video calls across time zones during the recording process.

Jo also spoke about the album itself and about the 12th Maria Callas Special Award, which she received on Aug. 2 as the first Asian recipient. She explained that the album title, "CONTINUUM," comes from the Latin for "to continue" or "in progress."

"I thought a lot about how my life and my artistic beginning start from right now," she said. "No matter the hardship, it's important to keep moving forward without stopping."

She then shared a personal thread running through the award. Her mother had listened to Maria Callas during pregnancy as a form of prenatal music. The night before the ceremony, Jo stayed in the same room at an Italian hotel where Callas had stayed 79 years earlier.

During the staff Q&A, Jo walked through her daily routine and looked back on her years studying abroad. "When I went overseas to study, many people didn't even know where Korea was, so I ran into all kinds of difficulties," she said. "I held on to my pride in being from Korea and just worked hard. These days it's really changed. When I go abroad, people are the first ones to say 'annyeonghaseyo,' 'K-pop, I love,' 'drama.'"

Jo closed the talk with a message aimed squarely at the staff in the room. "Life is short and you only get one. In an incredible place like SM, let's all pull off something big and live boldly. Let's go together."