Thomas Hampson
Long recognized as one of the most innovative musicians of our time, American baritone Thomas Hampson has received countless international honors for his singular artistry and cultural leadership. His operatic repertoire comprises more than 80 roles, and his discography includes more than 170 albums that have earned a Grammy Award, Edison Awards, ECHO Awards, and the Grand Prix du Disque.
Highlights of Hampson’s 2022–23 season include performing in a gala concert with mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, led by Music Director Fabio Luisi; singing Mahler songs with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Belgian National Orchestra, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lyon, and MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra (with whom he also tours to the Philharmonie Berlin and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg); and playing a vital role in the Mahler Festival Leipzig. Hampson also reunites with bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni for their acclaimed No Tenors Allowed program with the Würth Philharmoniker and returns to Opéra national de Paris for his role debut as Richard Nixon in John Adams’s Nixon in China, led by Music Director Gustavo Dudamel.
Hampson’s chamber music projects include performing in the New Century Chamber Orchestra’s season-opening concert with Music Director Daniel Hope; appearing in recital at the Turku Music Festival with pianist Vlad Iftinca and in Amsterdam’s Muziekgebouw, Vienna’s Mozart-Saal, Stuttgart, and Schloss Elmau with pianist Wolfram Rieger. He also sings Schumann’s Dichterliebe at the KKL Luzern with pianist Martha Argerich.
Last season, Hampson created the role of Jan Vermeer in the world premiere of Stefan Wirth’s Girl with a Pearl Earring at Opernhaus Zürich, and he starred as Don Alfonso in Mozart’s Così fan tutte at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. He also returned to Teatro Real in Madrid and traveled to the Festival Castell de Peralada to star in the title role of Rufus Wainwright’s Hadrian. On the concert stage, Hampson joined the Oslo Philharmonic and cellist Sol Gabetta for a concert led by Chief Conductor Klaus Mäkelä as well as the Sofia Philharmonic, Klangforum Wien, and Prague Symphony Orchestra, among others. His recital performances included organ recitals with Martin Haselböck at the Dresdner Philharmonie and Christian Schmitt at Tonhalle Zürich, and a recital with Rieger at Alte Kirche Boswil.
Hampson is an honorary professor of philosophy at the University of Heidelberg and an honorary member of London’s Royal Academy of Music. Further teaching commitments for Hampson include returning for the fourth edition of the Internationale Opernwerkstatt Waiblingen with soprano Melanie Diener.
In addition to having several honorary doctorates, Hampson is a Kammersänger of the Wiener Staatsoper and a Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of the Republic of France, and in 2017, he received the Hugo Wolf Medal with Rieger. He’s also the co-founder and artistic director of the Heidelberg Lied Academy. In 2003, Hampson founded the Hampsong Foundation, through which he uses the art of song to promote intercultural dialogue and understanding. His international master class schedule is a continuing online resource for Medici.tv, the Manhattan School of Music, and the Hampsong Foundation livestream channel.