Thomas Hampson

Praised by The New York Times for his "tireless curiosity," Thomas Hampson looks back on a unique international career as an opera, concert, and lieder singer, recording artist, and "ambassador of song," and has long been actively involved in research, education, music outreach, and technology. The American baritone performs with renowned singers, pianists, conductors, and orchestras in leading concert and opera houses worldwide. Hampson was recently honored with the "Met Mastersinger" award by the Metropolitan Opera Guild and is one of today's most significant, innovative, and sought-after vocal soloists. In 2011, he received the prestigious Concertgebouw Prize, and most recently, he was not only inducted into the Hall of Fame of the British classical music magazine Gramophone but also awarded the first Venetian Heritage Award. On the opera stage, Hampson will make his role debut in the 2013–14 season as the antagonist in Berg's Wozzeck at the Metropolitan Opera, in a production with Deborah Voigt and James Levine. Furthermore, he will reprise the title role in Simon Boccanegra at the Vienna State Opera, the role of Amfortas in Parsifal at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and in concert with the National Symphony Orchestra, and finally the role of Giorgio Germont in La Traviata at the Bavarian State Opera. As Mandryka in Arabella, he will be heard during the Salzburg Festival, and as Scarpia in Tosca at both the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Royal Opera House in London. In the concert hall, he opens this season with Eisler's Ernste Gesänge with Christian Thielemann and the Staatskapelle Dresden. He looks forward to a 12-concert European tour featuring works by Brahms, Schubert, and Wolf with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta. Additionally, he will perform arias and duets with Luca Pisaroni in Prague, Bratislava, Essen, Baden-Baden, and Paris, and will be heard with the BBC Scottish Symphony performing songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn. Hampson will give recitals at Wigmore Hall in London, the Gewandhaus Leipzig, in Coburg, Heidelberg, Brussels, and Bern. Last season, Verdi was a central focus, from his role debut as Iago in Otello at the Metropolitan Opera to his portrayal of Giorgio Germont at the Vienna State Opera. He captivated audiences in the title role of Simon Boccanegra at the Chicago Lyric Opera and in concerts and live recordings (with planned release in autumn) at the Vienna Konzerthaus. At the end of the season, the baritone also interpreted the role of the Doge at the Royal Opera House in London. In the summer of 2013, he turned to Wagner, interpreting Amfortas in Parsifal at the Munich Opera Festival, before singing Rodrigo in the new Pappano-Stein production of Verdi's Don Carlo at the Salzburg Festival. As a celebrated concert and lieder singer, he has performed in New York, Munich, London, Vienna, and San Francisco, among other places. At gala events, he sang on New Year's Eve with Rolando Villazón at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, as well as for the 125th anniversary of the Concertgebouw Orchestra alongside Lang Lang, Janine Jansen, and Mariss Jansons in Amsterdam. Further collaborations included a European tour with the Wiener Virtuosen, concerts with the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra, and with the Jupiter String Quartet – featuring a world premiere by Mark Adamo – in New York, Boston, and Davis, California. Hampson is at home in both contemporary and classical opera repertoire; in 2011, he sang the role of Rick Rescorla in the world premiere of Christopher Theofanidis's opera Heart of a Soldier at the San Francisco Opera, created for the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Hampson was recently inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Through the Hampsong Foundation, established in 2003, he promotes intercultural dialogue and understanding through the medium of lieder. He is one of the leading interpreters of German Romantic lieder and became known as an "ambassador of American song" through his acclaimed "Song of America" project, created in cooperation with the Library of Congress. The singer's commitment to intercultural communication through music and text was demonstrated in the CNN program "Fusion Journeys," a musical exchange with Ladysmith Black Mambazo filmed in South Africa. He was also involved in the production and presentation of the radio program "Song of America," realized by the Hampsong Foundation and co-produced by the WFMT Radio Network of Chicago. The 13-hour radio series, conceived and presented by Hampson, explores the history of American culture through song and was broadcast in over 300 markets worldwide. Hampson is passionate about teaching, gives masterclasses in the Manhattan School of Music's distance learning program, and is the founder and artistic director of the Lied-Akademie des Heidelberger Frühlings. Hampson, who grew up in Spokane, Washington, USA, has received numerous awards for his artistic work and his role as a cultural exemplar. Several recordings from his discography of over 150 albums have received a Grammy, five an Edison Award, and one a Grand Prix du Disque. In 2009, Hampson was appointed the first Artist in Residence of the New York Philharmonic; the Atlantic Council in Washington honored him with the Distinguished Artistic Leadership Award. In 2010, he received the Living Legend Award from the Library of Congress, for which he serves as a special advisor for music study and performance practice in America. The Manhattan School of Music, Whitworth College, and the San Francisco Conservatory have awarded him honorary doctorates; he is also an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music in London. Hampson holds the title of Kammersänger of the Vienna State Opera, the French title of Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres, and received the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art. In 2011, he was honored for the fourth time in 20 years with the ECHO Klassik Award as "Singer of the Year." www.thomashampson.com July 2013