Thomas Hampson (singer)

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Thomas Hampson

Background information
Born	June 28, 1955
Origin	Spokane, Washington
Genre(s)	Opera
Occupation(s)	Baritone
Years active	1980–present

Thomas Hampson (born June 28, 1955, Elkhart, Indiana) is an American opera singer (baritone).

He grew up in Spokane, Washington. He studied with Marietta Coyle, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Martial Singher, and Horst Günther. In 1980 he took the second prize at the 's-Hertogenbosch International Vocal Competition, and in 1981 first place in the Metropolitan Opera Auditions.

Today considered one of America's leading baritones, Hampson's operatic repertoire spans a wide range of roles: the title roles in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Rossini's Guillaume Tell, Ambroise Thomas' Hamlet, and Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin; Figaro in Rossini's Barber of Seville, Germont in Verdi's La Traviata and more recently also Amfortas in Wagner's Parsifal. In 2003 his recording of Wagner's Tannhäuser received the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording.

Thomas Hampson is also a celebrated lieder singer (Hugo Wolf, Joseph Marx, Richard Strauss and others) and a soloist of choice for the world's leading conductors. He has appeared in all major opera houses and concert halls. His impressive discography includes many award-winning recordings.

In 2003, he founded the Hampsong Foundation dedicated to the promotion of art song in America, which supports research and young artists through research projects, symposia, masterclasses, debuts, and concert lectures.