Thomas Hampson performs Robert Owens’s song cycle Fields of Wonder as part of the Liedstadt Festival in Hamburg on October 3.

Hampson has long championed the works of African American composers, notably curating the 2021 festival “Song of America: A Celebration of Black Music” at the Elbphilharmonie. As part of Liedstadt Hamburg, he presents Fields of Wonder in its entirety for the first time at the hall, joined by the Rothko String Quartet. A joint production with the Elbphilharmonie, and choreographed by Liedstadt Artist-in-Residence Andreas Heise, the evening also features songs by Leonard Bernstein, Florence Price, and Margaret Bonds that thoughtfully complement Owens’s profound emotional landscape.

Set to the poetry of civil rights activist Langston Hughes, Owens’s music weaves rich poetic depth with a distinctive sound world bridging American and European musical traditions.

The performance begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Elbphilharmonie’s Kleiner Saal.