Artist Biography
Thomas Hampson was born in Elkhart, Indiana, and raised in Spokane, Washington. He began his professional career as a student of Marietta Coyle and appeared in his first opera production at age nineteen, portraying the father in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel. He later studied with Martial Singher, Horst Günter, and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. In 1980 Mr. Hampson had his first permanent engagement at Düsseldorf’s Deutsche Oper am Rhein. Four years later he joined the Zurich Opera, where he has since appeared every season. Mr. Hampson made his San Francisco Symphony debut in 1996, performing in Leonard Bernstein’s On the Town with Michael Tilson Thomas conducting. In May 2007, he performed songs from Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn with MTT and the Orchestra in San Francisco and on tour in New York, Vienna, and Prague. That year, Mr. Hampson also performed with the Orchestra in Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, which was recorded live and released in September 2008 on CD as part of the SFS Mahler Project.
In 2003, Mr. Hampson founded the Hampsong Foundation, which aims to promote the art of song and intercultural dialogue through research projects, symposia, lectures, and concerts around the world. Mr. Hampson is known for his interpretations of German romantic songs, especially those of Schumann, Mahler, and Wolf, as well as for his ongoing Song of America project. Much of Mr. Hampson’s 2009-10 season is devoted to the project, for which he will be presenting recitals, master classes, educational activities, exhibitions, and broadcasts across the country, and through a new interactive online resource, www.songofamerica.net. As part of the project, Mr. Hampson has just released his newest album, Wondrous Free—Song of America, on his own label, Thomas Hampson Media.
In the 2008-09 season, in addition to appearing at the gala opening nights of the Metropolitan Opera and Carnegie Hall, Mr. Hampson performed opposite Renée Fleming in Thaïs at the Metropolitan Opera and La Traviata at the Royal Opera House. This season, as the New York Philharmonic’s first Artist in Residence, he will perform three programs with the orchestra, accompany the ensemble on its European tour, and give a recital in Alice Tully Hall. Other 2009-10 engagements include Verdi’s Ernani and Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin with the Zurich Opera, La Traviata with the Metropolitan Opera, and appearances at the galas of the Vienna State Opera and the new Winspear Opera House in Dallas.
Thomas Hampson’s discography of more than 150 albums has been honored with a Grammy award, two Edison prizes, and the Grand Prix du Disque. Mr. Hampson holds several honorary doctorates, honorary membership in the Royal Academy of Music, the title of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, and the Austrian Medal of Honor in Arts and Sciences. He is the recipient of the 2009 Distinguished Artistic Leadership Award from the Atlantic Council in Washington DC.