Long recognised as one of the most innovative musicians of our time, American baritone Thomas Hampson has received countless international honours for his singular artistry and cultural leadership. His operatic repertoire comprises more than 80 roles, and his discography includes more than 170 albums, with multiple nominations and wins of the GRAMMY Award, Edison Award, and the Grand Prix du Disque.
This season, Hampson sings the title role in Adam’s Nixon in China at the Paris Opera under the baton of Kent Nagano, returning to the role later in the season to sing excerpts from the opera with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Andris Nelsons at Boston Symphony Hall, Carnegie Hall and the Tanglewood Festival. He will also appear with the BSO and Nelsons as The Old Doctor in Barber’s Vanessa and concludes 2025 with a star-studded Christmas Night Opera Gala at Carnegie Hall, with Francesco Lanzillotta. Further appearances on the concert stage include Hampson joining the NHK Symphony Orchestra and Ryan Bancroft for Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn. He performs Schoenberg’s Ode to Napoleon with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra led by Fabio Luisi and appears with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra and the Essen Philharmonic, both led by Daniel Hope. Following their highly successful tour last season at venues such as Het Concertgebouw, Konzert Theater Coesfeld and Beethoven-Haus Bonn, Hampson returns to Europe for a second tour of Schubert’s Winterreise with accordionist Ksenija Sidorova at the Verbier Festival, Bergen Festival, Kings Place London and Tonhalle Zürich.
He is an honorary professor of philosophy at the University of Heidelberg and an honorary member of London’s Royal Academy of Music. In addition to several honorary doctorates, he is a Kammersänger of the Wiener Staatsoper and Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of the Republic of France. He is the co-Founder and Artistic Director of the Lied Academy Heidelberg, and in 2003 he founded the Hampsong Foundation through which he uses the art of song to promote intercultural dialogue and understanding.
