Thomas Hampton is one of the most recognized, popular, and sought-after singers before the public today. In a career now in its third decade, his versatility, imagination, and vocal charisma have set new standards on the operatic stages and concert halls the world over. Brought up in Spokane, Washington, he has devoted his life to music, performing in opera, operetta, musical, oratorio, and recital, as well as in the fields of recording, research and pedagogy. Thomas Hampton’s operatic repertoire encompasses over 60 opera roles and 120 recording projects, spanning known repertoire as well as rarely performed works and world premieres. He has sung the title roles in Rossini’s
Guillaume Tell, Tchaikovsky’s
Eugene Onegin, Massenet’s
Werther in the composer’s baritone version, Busoni’s
Doktor Faustus, Ambroise Thomas’
Hamlet, Verdi’s
Macbeth and
Simon Boccanegra, Mozart’s
Don Giovanni, as well as the world premiere of Cerha’s
Der Riese vom Steinfeld. Other roles include Germont in Verdi’s
La Traviata, Wolfram in Wagner’s
Tannhдuser, the Marquis de Posa in Verdi’s
Don Carlos, Orest in Gluck’s
Iphigenie en Tauride, Amfortas in Wagner’s
Parsifal, Mandryka in Strauss’
Arabella, and recently Renato in Verdi’s
Un Ballo in Maschera in London’s Covent Garden.
A particular passion of Thomas Hampson is the world of song as the diary of every culture. His over 25 recordings of songs in various languages have garnished him virtually all the major recording prizes available.
In 1996 followed the critically acclaimed PBS special called “I Hear America Singing” and the launch of the first interdisciplinary Web site for American song by the same name. Subsequently Thomas Hampson has presented “I Hear America Singing” concerts, symposia, and radio programs throughout the world, offering various perspectives to the fascinating history of poetry, thought, and music in America.
The much anticipated cooperation between Thomas Hampson, his Hampsong Foundation and the greatest public library in the world, the Library of Congress, furthers the understanding and pride for cultural development in America for future generations.
Thomas Hampson holds honorary doctorates from the Whitworth College, Spokane, Washington, and the San Francisco Conservatory, and has recently become a Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. He is an honorary member of London’s Royal Academy of Music and bears the titles of Kammersдnger of the Vienna State Opera as well as Chevalier de l’ordre des arts et des letters by the Republic of France. He was awarded the Austrian Medal of Honor in Arts and Sciences in 2004 and in 2005 he received the Edison Life Achievement Award.