Ambassador of song

He is without question one of the world’s greatest opera singers… a voice, a baritone so rich it can circle the universe.

Diane Sawyer - Good Morning America

About

Long recognized 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 is comprised of more than 80 roles, and his discography includes more than 170 albums, with multiple nominations and winners of the GRAMMY Award, Edison Award, and the Grand Prix du Disque.

Highlights of Thomas Hampson’s 2022/2023 season on the concert stage include a gala concert with Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Fabio Luisi and mezzo-soprano Susan Graham. He also sings Mahler songs with Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Belgian National Orchestra, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lyon and MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig with whom he also tours to the Philharmonie Berlin and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, in addition to playing a vital role in the Mahler Festival Leipzig. Hampson also reunites with bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni for their acclaimed “No Tenors Allowed” program with the Würth Philharmoniker.

Chamber music projects see Hampson perform in the opening season concert with the New Century Chamber Orchestra and Daniel Hope. He will appear in recital at Turku Music Festival with Vlad Iftinca and in the Muziekgebouw, Amsterdam, Mozart-Saal, Stuttgart and Schloss Elmau with Wolfram Rieger. He also sings Schumann’s Dichterliebe at the KKL Luzern with Martha Argerich.

Later in the season, Hampson will return to Opéra national de Paris for his greatly anticipated role debut as Richard Nixon in Adams’ Nixon in China, led by Gustavo Dudamel.

Last season, he created the role of Jan Vermeer in the world premiere of Stefan Wirth’s Girl with a Pearl Earring at Opernhaus Zürich and starred as Don Alfonso in Mozart’s Così fan tutte at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Hampson returned to the Teatro Real de Madrid and traveled to the Festival Castell de Peralada to star in the title role of Rufus Wainwright’s Hadrian. On the concert stage, he joined the Oslo Philharmonic and cellist Sol Gabetta for a concert led by Klaus Mäkelä, Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, Klangforum Wien, and Prague Symphony, among others. His recital performances included organ recitals with Martin Haselböck at the Dresdner Philharmonie, with Christian Schmitt at Tonhalle Zürich, and a recital with Wolfram Rieger at Alte Kirche Boswil.

Hampson 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. In 2017 he received the Hugo Wolf Medal, together with Wolfram Rieger. Hampson is the co-Founder and Artistic Director of the Lied Academy Heidelberg. Further teaching commitments include returning for the fourth edition of Opernwerkstatt Waiblingen with Melanie Diener. In 2003, he founded the Hampsong Foundation, through which he uses the art of song to promote intercultural dialogue and understanding. His international master class schedule is a continuing online resource of Medici.tv, the Manhattan School of Music, and The Hampsong Foundation livestream channel.

Repertoire

THOMAS’S CAREER IN NUMBERS

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2022
Career Highlight

Premiere of Rufus Wainwright’s ‘Hadrian’ in Spain

Career Highlight

World premiere of ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ at Opernhaus Zürich

2021
Awards & Honors

Music Prize Heidelberger Frühling Award for 2020

Career Highlight

Role debut as Don Alfonso at
Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

2020
Awards & Honors

The Animated Story of Jenny Lind:
Golden Prague Festival Winner

2019
Career Highlight

No Tenors Allowed at Teatro Colón

Career Highlight

World premiere of The Phoenix at Houston Grand Opera

2018
Career Highlight

World Premiere of Hadrian at the Canadian Opera Company

Career Highlight

“Song of America: Beyond Liberty” launch at Glimmerglass Festival

2017
Awards & Honors

Le nozze di Figaro wins Echo Klassik 2017 for Best Opera Recording

Awards & Honors

Hugo-Wolf-Medaille for Thomas Hampson & Wolfram Rieger for their outstanding achievements in the art of song interpretation

2016
Career Highlight

Extensive tour throughout Asia, featuring performances in China and South Korea

Career Highlight

Creates the role of Roald Amundsen in world premiere of South Pole at the Bayerische Staatsoper

2015
Career Highlight

Hampsong Foundation – ‘Song of America’ In the Classroom: A Live-streamed Media Event in collaboration with Lyric Opera of Chicago

Awards & Honors

Honorary Doctorate from New England Conservatory

Awards & Honors

“Award for Cultural Diplomacy” by American Ambassador Philip T. Reeker in Milan

Career Highlight

European tour with percussionist Martin Grubinger and The Percussive Planet Ensemble, featuring works by Crumb, Grubinger, Corigliano, Ives, and tributes to Sting and Frank Sinatra

Career Highlight

Critically acclaimed portrayal of the title role in a new production of Chausson’s rarely performed Le roi Arthus for the Opéra de Paris

Career Highlight

“Song: Mirror of the World” Radio Series released in the U.S.

Career Highlight

“Thomas Hampson: Autograph” album boxed-set collection released internationally by Warner Classics

Career Highlight

Carnegie Hall Recital, featuring world premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s Civil Words, written for Mr. Hampson and commissioned by Carnegie Hall

Career Highlight

Honorary Doctor of Music degree from the New England Conservatory

2014
Career Highlight

Returns to San Francisco Opera to star as Count Anckarstrom in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera

Career Highlight

Recital in Washington D.C. at the Library of Congress titled Poets and Patriotism: The 200th Birthday of the Star-Spangled Banner

Awards & Honors

Anton Coppola Excellence in the Arts Award by Opera Tampa (sponsored by Charles A and Faith S Simmons)

Career Highlight

European tour with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, featuring works by Schönberg, Brahms, Barber and Wolf

2013
Awards & Honors

Honorary Professor at University of Heidelberg (Faculty of Philosophy)

Awards & Honors

Recipient of the first “Venetian Heritage Award”

Awards & Honors

Inducted to Gramophone’s 2013 Hall of Fame

Awards & Honors

“Goldenes Ehrenzeichen” of the City of Salzburg

Awards & Honors

“International Mendelssohn-Prize” award in the category music

Career Highlight

Stars as Rodrigo in new production of Verdi’s Don Carlo at the Salzburg Festival with live webcast via medici.tv

Career Highlight

Hampson headlines Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra at London’s Royal Opera House

Career Highlight

World premiere of Mark Adamo’s Aristotle in performance with the Jupiter String Quartet

Career Highlight

Performances & Decca recording of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra in Vienna

Career Highlight

European tour with the Wiener Virtuosen

2012
Career Highlight

Officially inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Awards & Honors

Met Mastersinger Award

Awards & Honors

Erwin Piscator Preis

Career Highlight

Long-awaited return to the Santa Fe Opera, as Scarpia in Puccini’s Tosca

Career Highlight

World premiere of Sylvia Bodorová’s orchestral song cycle Linqua Angelorum with the Prague Symphony Orchestra

Career Highlight

Livestream of concert performance with bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni, the WDR Rundfunkorchester, and conductor Massimo Zanetti

Career Highlight

CNN International “Fusion Journeys” Feature – Thomas Hampson meets and sings with Ladysmith Black Mambazo in South Africa

Career Highlight

Performs at groundbreaking of Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, with President Obama in attendance

Career Highlight

‘Song of America’ U.S. Tour

2011
Career Highlight

Installment in Met Mastersingers series

Career Highlight

Role debut as Iago in Verdi’s Otello at Zurich Opera

Awards & Honors

Concertgebouw Prize

Awards & Honors

“Singer of the Year”, Echo Klassik (Germany) for “Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn”

Awards & Honors

Creates role of Rick Rescorla in world premiere of Christopher Theofanidis’ Heart of a Soldier at San Francisco Opera

Awards & Honors

The Hampsong Foundation’s “Song of America” Radio Series launches across the U.S.

Awards & Honors

Named ECHO Klassik Singer of the Year

Awards & Honors

Inauguration of the first Heidelberg Lied Academy

2010
Career Highlight

New recording of Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn on Deutsche Grammophon

Career Highlight

Hampson honored with The Library of Congress “Living Legend” Award

Awards & Honors

Library of Congress Living Legend Award

Awards & Honors

Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Awards & Honors

Award in recognition of “extraordinary artistic achievement, personal generosity and unique contribution to singers everywhere” from the International Vocal Arts Institute

Career Highlight

Spearheads the first live video streaming of a classical music event in an iPhone/iTouch app with a master class on Mahler songs given through Manhattan School of Music’s Distance Learning Program

2009
Career Highlight

Launches songofamerica.net, an interactive database allowing lovers of song to explore American history and culture “through the ears of our composers and the eyes of our poets” funded by the Hampsong Foundation

Awards & Honors

Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Arts from the Third Street Music School Settlement

Career Highlight

Serves as the New York Philharmonic’s first Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence, as well as Leonard Bernstein Scholar; performs three programs with the orchestra, including the world premiere of Matthias Pintscher’s “Songs from Solomon’s Garden” and Alexander Zemlinsky’s “Lyrische Symphonie,” goes on tour in Europe under the Philharmonic’s new music director, Alan Gilbert, gives a recital in Alice Tully Hall, and presents three lectures entitled “Listening to Thought” in the orchestra’s “Insight” series

Awards & Honors

Honorary Doctorate from the Manhattan School of Music

Awards & Honors

Distinguished Artistic Leadership Award from The Atlantic Council

Career Highlight

Continues “Song of America” project with 13 US recitals

Career Highlight

Releases the first self-produced album, “Wondrous Free – Song of America II,” on Thomas Hampson Media

Career Highlight

Recital at the US Supreme Court

Career Highlight

Debuts as Scarpia in Robert Carsen’s production of Tosca at the Opernhaus Zürich

Performs the world premiere of Michael Daugherty’s “Letters From Lincoln,” commissioned in honor of the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln, with the Spokane Symphony

2008
Career Highlight

Sings the role of Athanael in Massenet’s “Thais” opposite Renée Fleming in the Metropolitan Opera’s live HD transmission

Awards & Honors

Opera News Award for distinguished achievement from The Metropolitan Opera Guild

Awards & Honors

Special Advisor to the Study and Performance of Music in America to the Library of Congress and Dr. James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress

Awards & Honors

Deutscher Schallplatten Prize

Career Highlight

Sings on the gala opening nights of the Metropolitan Opera, broadcast live in HD worldwide, and Carnegie Hall, broadcast nationally on PBS

Career Highlight

Establishes his own label, Thomas Hampson Media (THM), and partners with iTunes for a digital-only re-release of four records including Haydn, Mozart and Schubert arias with Concentus Musicus Wien conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Schumann Kerner and Andersen Lieder with Geoffrey Parsons, and two volumes of “Wunderhorn” songs by various composers.

2007
Career Highlight

Sings the title role in Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra at the Metropolitan Opera

Career Highlight

Board Member of the Manhattan School of Music

2006
Career Highlight

Launch of new websites www.thomashampson.com and www.hampsong.org

Career Highlight

Sings role of Mandryka in new production of Strauss’s Arabella at the Wiener Staatsoper, with Sven-Eric Bechtolf directing and Franz Welser-Möst conducting

Career Highlight

Performs title role in new production of Busoni’s Doktor Faust at Zurich opera

Awards & Honors

Officer of the Order “Pro Merito Melitensi” of the Order of Malta

Career Highlight

Sings Don Giovanni at the Salzburg Festival’s “Mozart 22” cycle, commemorating the composer’s 250th birthday; recorded for DVD release

Career Highlight

Gives master class on the interpretation of Mahler songs for singers and orchestra musicians at the Orchesterakademie of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, recorded for TV broadcast and DVD/online release

Career Highlight

Heidelberger Frühling Festival: serves as artistic director of a week of concerts, masterclasses and a symposion, co-produced by the HAMPSONG Foundation, commemorating the 200th anniversary of the publication of Des Knaben Wunderhorn and initiating a long-term collaboration between the HAMPSONG Foundation and the Heidelberger Frühling; the concerts and master classes are recorded for TV broadcast and DVD/online release

Career Highlight

Sings the title role in Verdi’s Macbeth at London’s Royal Opera House

Career Highlight

Performs in gala concert on Mozart’s 250th birthday at the Salzburg Mozart Week

2005
Career Highlight

Inauguration of the Library of Congress’s “Song of America” project, including a 12-city recital tour presented in collaboration with the HAMPSONG Foundation; the concert tour runs through summer 2006

Career Highlight

Performs in the Wiener Staatsoper’s 50th anniversary gala concert

Awards & Honors

Honorary Member of the Wiener Konzerthausgesellschaft

Awards & Honors

Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts (Class III – Arts)

Awards & Honors

Honorary Chairman of RISM-Austria

Awards & Honors

Edison Award for Life Achievement

Career Highlight

Sings Giorgio Germont in La traviata at the Salzburg Festival opposite Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón, including live TV broadcast and CD/DVD recording

Career Highlight

Thomas Hampson’s 50th birthday

Career Highlight

Role debut as Renato in Un ballo in maschera at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, with Karita Mattila as Amelia and Antonio Pappano conducting

Career Highlight

Presents “carte blanche” series at the Vienna Konzerthaus with recitals and a symposion on “I Hear America Singing” (February) and Mahler songs (June)

Career Highlight

Launch of the new interactive website including a fully integrated program archive, discography, audio samples; information on artists and composers, news, as well as a calendar of events

2004
Career Highlight

Launch of a series of collaborative educational programs between the Library of Congress and the Hampsong Foundation for the promotion of the art song in America

Career Highlight

Sings Wolfram in the Otto Schenk production of Wagner’s Tannhäuser at the Metropolitan Opera; Peter Seiffert sings Tannhäuser with Mark Elder conducting

Career Highlight

Sings the title role in Mozart’s Don Giovanni on the Japan tour of the Wiener Staatsoper with Edita Gruberova, Michael Schade, and Angelika Kirchschlager, Seiji Ozawa conducting

Awards & Honors

Ehrenkreuz für Wissenschaft und Kunst (Medal of Honor in Arts and Sciences) from the Republic of Austria

Awards & Honors

Honorary Member of the “Freunde der Wiener Staatsoper”

Career Highlight

Antonín Dvořák Project at the Salzburg Festival with Barbara Bonney, Michelle Breedt, Georg Zeppenfeld, and Wolfram Rieger, artistic concept by Thomas Hampson

Career Highlight

Sings Amfortas in the Parsifal production of Nikolaus Lehnhoff at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden with Kent Nagano conducting

Career Highlight

Sings the title role in Marthe Keller’s production of Don Giovanni at the Metropolitan Opera in New York

2003
Career Highlight

Sings Friedrich Cerha’s Baal-Gesänge with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under Zubin Mehta at the Wiener Musikverein

Awards & Honors

Board Member of International Gustav Mahler Society

Awards & Honors

Verdi, “Falstaff” (DG, Claudio Abbado) Edison Award

Career Highlight

Hugo Wolf Project at the Salzburg Festival with Barbara Bonney, Angelika Kirchschlager, Michael Schade, Georg Zeppenfeld, and Wolfram Rieger, artistic concept by Thomas Hampson

2002
Career Highlight

Role debut as Athanael in Massenet’s Thaïs at the Lyric Opera of Chicago with Renée Fleming in the title role and John Cox directing

Career Highlight

Debut in the title role of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra at the Wiener Staatsoper with Daniele Gatti conducting and Peter Stein directing

Career Highlight

Sings the world premiere of Wolfgang Rihm’s Sechs Gedichte von Friedrich Nietzsche in Köln

Awards & Honors

Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the Republic of France

Awards & Honors

Wagner, “Tannhäuser” (Teldec, Daniel Barenboim)

Awards & Honors

Grammy Award, Best Opera RecordingArtist of the month, Yahoo Germany

Career Highlight

Sings the title role in the new production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni under Nikolaus Harnoncourt with Martin Kusej directing at the Salzburg Festival

Career Highlight

Sings the title role in the world premiere of Friedrich Cerha’s opera Der Riese vom Steinfeld, libretto by Peter Turrini

Career Highlight

Role debut as Mandryka in Richard Strauss’s Arabella at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, with Karita Mattila in the title role

2001
Career Highlight

Sings Macbeth at the Opernhaus Zürich under the baton of Franz Welser-Möst

Career Highlight

Sings Eugene Onegin under Vladimir Jurowski at the Metropolitan Opera in New York

Career Highlight

Salzburg Festival: sings Posa in Verdi’s Don Carlo and recitals of “The Hampson Project” featuring songs by American composers on texts by American writers

Career Highlight

Recitals in Europe and the US

Career Highlight

Sings Amfortas in Wagner’s Parsifal at the Opéra National de Paris and the Royal Opera House in London (December)

2000
Awards & Honors

Honorary Doctorate of Music, San Francisco Conservatory

Awards & Honors

Alumnus of the Year, University of Southern California

Awards & Honors

Szymanowski, “Krol Roger” (EMI, Simon Rattle)

Awards & Honors

Gramophone Award, Best Opera Recording

Awards & Honors

Diapason d’Or

Awards & Honors

Caecilia Prize

Awards & Honors

Classic CD Award

Career Highlight

Sings at the Centennial Celebration for Elinor Remick Warren at the National Cathedral Washington, DC

Career Highlight

Member of the Artistic Committee for the Kennedy Center Honors

1999
Awards & Honors

Kammersänger of the Wiener Staatsoper

Awards & Honors

Gustav Mahler Medal in Gold, International Gustav Mahler Society

Awards & Honors

Szymanowski, “Krol Roger”

Awards & Honors

Choc du Monde de la MusiqueBernstein, “Wonderful Town” (EMI, Simon Rattle)

Awards & Honors

Diapason d’Or

Career Highlight

Role debut in Busoni’s Doktor Faust at the Salzburg Festival

Career Highlight

Role debut as Wolfram in Wagner’s Tannhäuser at the Opernhaus Zurich

Career Highlight

Performs with soprano Renée Fleming in a gala concert at The White House for attendees of the International Summit

Career Highlight

Sings the title role in the baritone version of Massenet’s Werther at the Metropolitan Opera with Susan Graham as Charlotte

1998
Career Highlight

Debut in the title role of Rossini’s last opera Guillaume Tell at the Wiener Staastoper

Awards & Honors

Adventist Alumni Achievement Award

Career Highlight

Sings title role in the rarely performed opera King Roger by Polish composer Karol Szymanowski in Birmingham and at the Salzburg Festival

Career Highlight

Joins forces with Jerry Hadley, Cheryl Studer, and Craig Rutenberg to perform I Hear America Singing, another gala concert of American Song, at the Barbican Centre, London

Career Highlight

Sings in the world premiere of Richard Danielpour’s Elegies for mezzo-soprano (Frederica von Stade), baritone, and orchestra in Jacksonville, Florida, reprising the cycle at Carnegie Hall

1997
Career Highlight

New York debut as Posa in the Italian version of Verdi’s Don Carlo

Career Highlight

Series of performances of Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem and songs by Schumann and Schubert with Wolfgang Sawallisch in Tokyo

Career Highlight

Role debut as Antonio in Donizetti’s rarely performed Linda di Chamounix at the Wiener Staatsoper

Career Highlight

First webcast of Schubert’s Winterreise, aired by N2K & WQXR

Career Highlight

Inaugurates Carte Blanche Series at Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw

Awards & Honors

Merola Distinguished Alumni Award

Awards & Honors

Citation for Lifetime Achievement in Music and Education, National Arts Club, NY

Awards & Honors

Schubert, “Winterreise” (EMI, Wolfgang Sawallisch)

Awards & Honors

Choc du Monde de la MusiqueEMI Special Achievement Award – Artist of the Year

Awards & Honors

Yahoo “Five Star Web Site” for www.hampsong.com

Awards & Honors

Various Internet Awards including “Cool Site of the Month” for “I Hear America Singing” (www.pbs.org/wnet/ihas)

Career Highlight

Participates in first online webcast, sponsored by N2K’s Classical Insites, of Whitman album “To the Soul”

Career Highlight

Sings role of Froila in Schubert’s rarely-heard opera Alfonso und Estrella at Theater an der Wien under the baton of Nikolaus Harnoncourt

Career Highlight

Sings title role in the four-act version of Britten’s Billy Budd with the Hallé Orchestra of Manchester, Kent Nagano conducting

Career Highlight

Stage debut as Eugene Onegin in a Russian-language production of Tchaikovsky’s opera at the Wiener Staatsoper

Career Highlight

Launch of own official Web site www.hampsong.com

Career Highlight

Debuts in series of performances of Schubert’s Winterreise in Philadelphia, Princeton, and Carnegie Hall

Career Highlight

First telecast on Great Performances (WNET/13) of program on American song in its cultural context for which he served as artistic director, creative consultant, as well as performing artist, “Thomas Hampson: I Hear America Singing”; release of home video and launch of accompanying Web Site www.pbs.org/wnet/ihas

Career Highlight

Role debut as Bellini’s Riccardo in the Metropolitan Opera’s I Puritani

Awards & Honors

EMI Artist of the Year

1996
Awards & Honors

Honorary Member of Royal Academy of Music, London (HONRAM)

Awards & Honors

“German Arias” (EMI, Fabio Luisi)

Awards & Honors

Grand Prix du Disque“Best Male Singer”, Echo Klassik (Germany)

Awards & Honors

Excellence Citation, St. Paul Sunday Morning American Song Broadcast Peabody Broadcasting Award

Career Highlight

Serves as Artistic Director and Producer of a concert and film project on the life and music of Stephen Foster, broadcast by Hessischer Rundfunk / arte

Career Highlight

Inducted as a member of the Royal Academy of Music, London

Career Highlight

Sings Posa in Verdi’s Don Carlos in the original French version at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris in a production by Luc Bondy, reprised in June at London’s Covent Garden

Career Highlight

Invited by President and Mrs. Clinton to perform a program of French and American song at a State Dinner in honor of President and Mrs. Chirac

Career Highlight

Performs a program of Ives songs with Dawn Upshaw and Craig Rutenberg as part of a BBC’s Ives Festival weekend

Career Highlight

Serves as the Artistic Director of and performs at a gala benefit of American song for WNET/13; the concert is taped as part of a project for television, CD, video and CD-ROM

1995
Career Highlight

Debuts in the Hindemith Requiem with Wolfgang Sawallisch and the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Academy of Music, Philadelphia

Awards & Honors

Barber, “Secrets of the Old” – Complete Songs (DG, Cheryl Studer, John Browning)

Awards & Honors

Classic CD Best Vocal RecitalBBC Magazine Best Vocal Recital

Awards & Honors

Grammy Nomination“Singer of the Year”, Deutscher Schallplattenpreis

Career Highlight

Recitals in Salzburg, Munich, Vienna, Zurich, and Regensburg, performances of Don Giovanni, Don Carlo, and Il barbiere di Siviglia in Vienna, Munich, and Zurich

Career Highlight

Debuts in Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem in Rome with Wolfgang Sawallisch conducting

Career Highlight

Performs all of Gustav Mahler’s songs in their new critical edition for voice and piano at the Mahler Festival in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam

Career Highlight

Sings Das Lied von der Erde under the baton of Bernard Haitink at the Grosses Festspielhaus in Salzburg on Easter Sunday

Career Highlight

Performs in “Live from Lincoln Center” telecast with Kathleen Battle

Career Highlight

Debuts in Gustav Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde at Carnegie Hall under the baton of James Levine

Career Highlight

Cannes Classical Music Award for 1994 Singer of the Year and German critics Echo Preis for Best Male Singer 1994, these awards crowning a series of ten prestigious recording and critical honors for that season

1994
Career Highlight

Debut in Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus under the baton of Robert Shaw

Career Highlight

World premiere recording of Schumann’s 20 Lieder und Gesänge aus dem Lyrischen Intermezzo im Buch der Lieder von Heinrich Heine (original version of Dichterliebe), based on his and Renate Stark-Voit’s research for the critical edition; Wolfgang Sawallisch at the piano

Career Highlight

Sings leading role of Vicomte de Valmont in the world premiere of Conrad Susa and Philip Littell’s opera The Dangerous Liaisons at the San Francisco Opera

Awards & Honors

Puccini Foundation Achievement Award

Awards & Honors

Distinguished Alumni Award (1st recipient), Music Academy of the West

Awards & Honors

Mahler, “Des Knaben Wunderhorn” (Teldec, Geoffrey Parsons)

Awards & Honors

Toblacher Komponierhäuschen Award

Awards & Honors

Barber, “Secrets of the Old” Grammy Award nomination

Awards & Honors

Gramophone Award, Best Vocal Recording: Bernstein, On the Town (DG, Michael Tilson Thomas)

Awards & Honors

Gramophone Awards, Best Musical & Best Video“Best Male Vocalist”, Cannes Classical Award

Career Highlight

Solo recital of Barber and Mahler songs at the Salzburg Festival

Career Highlight

Opens the Mostly Mozart Festival with a program of arias telecast live from Lincoln Center

Career Highlight

Embarks on a 21-city European and North American tour which features solo recital debuts in Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna, London, Paris, Washington, D.C., Iowa City, Fort Worth, Quebec, and Carmel

Awards & Honors

Named Male Singer of the Year by the International Classical Music Awards

Career Highlight

Debut with the Houston Symphony Orchestra with a program of Mahler and Copland, Christoph Eschenbach conducting

1993
Career Highlight

Debut as Chorèbe in Berlioz’s Les Troyens at the Metropolitan Opera under James Levine

Career Highlight

North American Tour features solo recital debuts in St. Paul, Ann Arbor, Omaha, Kansas City, and Toronto

Career Highlight

Awarded an Honorary Doctor of Music from Whitworth College, Spokane, WA

Career Highlight

Collaborates on and funds the publication of a new critical edition of Mahler songs by Universal Edition, Vienna; release of recording of this edition on the Teldec label with Geoffrey Parsons

Career Highlight

Sings title role in Zurich opera’s production of Hans Werner Henze’s Der Prinz von Homburg

Awards & Honors

Honorary Doctor of Music, Fort Wright College of the Holy Names, Spokane

Awards & Honors

Thomas, “Hamlet” (EMI, Antonio de Almeida): Grand Prix du Disque, Académie Charles Gros

Awards & Honors

Palmares des Palmares, Nouvelle Académie du Disque

Awards & Honors

Wagner, “Götterdämmerung” (EMI, Bernard Haitink)

Awards & Honors

Edison Award“Male Singer of the Year”, Classical Music Awards

Career Highlight

Recital, concert and master class at Tanglewood Festival, Lenox, Massachusetts

Career Highlight

Role debut as Posa in Verdi’s Don Carlo in Zurich

Career Highlight

Debut at Covent Garden in Il barbiere di Siviglia

Career Highlight

Role debut as title character of Thomas’s Hamlet in Monte Carlo, subsequently recording the part

1992
Career Highlight

Carnegie Hall recital debut with Schumann’s 20 Lieder und Gesänge aus dem Lyrischen Intermezzo and rarely-heard Walt Whitman songs, after conducting research into settings of the American poet in honor of his centennial

Career Highlight

Sings world premiere in Geneva of Schumann’s 20 Lieder und Gesänge aus dem Lyrischen Intermezzo, after having conducted research into the original version of the song cycle (later altered and published as Dichterliebe)

Career Highlight

Opens Chicago Symphony season singing in Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem under Daniel Barenboim

Awards & Honors

Bachelor of Arts, Eastern Washington University

Awards & Honors

Mahler, Rückert-Lieder, “Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen”, “Kindertotenlieder” (DG, Leonard Bernstein)

Awards & Honors

Edison Award Rossini & Meyerbeer, Songs (EMI, Geoffrey Parsons)

Awards & Honors

Grand Prix du Disque Delius, “Sea Drift” (London/Decca, Charles Mackerras)

Awards & Honors

Schubert, “Fierrabras” (DG, Claudio Abbado)

Awards & Honors

Grammy Award nomination

Awards & Honors

Grammy Award nomination“Stern des Jahres”, Solo Recital, Münchener Abendzeitung

Awards & Honors

“Vocalist of the Year”, Musical America

Career Highlight

Sings Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro at Florence’s Maggio Musicale, Zubin Mehta conducting

Career Highlight

Debut in title role of Britten’s Billy Budd at the Metropolitan Opera with Sir Charles Mackerras conducting

Career Highlight

Performs at the Rossini 200th Birthday Gala at Avery Fisher Hall in New York

1991
Career Highlight

Opens New York Philharmonic season in a “Live from Lincoln Center” telecast, singing Copland’s Old American Songs under the baton of Kurt Masur; opens London Philharmonic season singing Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen under Klaus Tennstedt

Career Highlight

Sings in the 25th Anniversary Gala of James Levine at the Metropolitan Opera, recorded live for video and CD

Awards & Honors

Mahler, Rückert-Lieder, “Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen”, “Kindertotenlieder” (DG, Leonard Bernstein)

1990
Career Highlight

Debut at San Francisco Opera in title role of Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria

Awards & Honors

Grammy Award nomination

Awards & Honors

International Records Critics Award

Awards & Honors

Outstanding Alumnus Award, University of Southern California School of Music

Awards & Honors

Songs from “Des Knaben Wunderhorn” by various composers (Teldec, Geoffrey Parsons)

Awards & Honors

Grand Prix du Disque, Académie Charles Gros

Awards & Honors

Deutscher Schallplattenpreis

Awards & Honors

Edison Award

Career Highlight

Performs Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder and Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with Leonard Bernstein and the Wiener Philharmoniker at the Musikverein; debuts at Carnegie Hall with the two Mahler cycles under Bernstein

Career Highlight

Releases first solo recital album on Teldec with songs on texts from Des Knaben Wunderhorn, which wins numerous international awards

1989
Career Highlight

Deutsche Oper Berlin debut as Don Giovanni

Career Highlight

Solo recital debut at Teatro alla Scala, Milan

1988
Career Highlight

Puccini, “La Bohème” (DG, Leonard Bernstein)

Career Highlight

Salzburg Festival debut as Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro under James Levine

Career Highlight

Sings Marcello in Leonard Bernstein’s recording of La Bohème; begins series of performances and recordings of Mahler songs with Bernstein

Career Highlight

Sings role of Roland in Schubert’s rarely-performed Fierrabras in Vienna

Career Highlight

Recital debut at New York’s Alice Tully Hall

Career Highlight

Grammy Award nomination

1987
Career Highlight

Debuts in the Harnoncourt-Ponnelle production of Don Giovanni in Zurich

1986
Career Highlight

Debut at New York’s Metropolitan Opera as Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro with James Levine conducting

Career Highlight

Wiener Staatsoper debut as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte

Career Highlight

Recital debut in New York’s Town Hall

1984
Career Highlight

Recital debut at London’s Wigmore Hall under auspices of Schwarzkopf-Legge Foundation

Career Highlight

Performs in Bach’s St. John Passion under Nikolaus Harnoncourt at Frankfurt’s Alte Oper for Bach’s 300th birthday celebration

Career Highlight

Starts engagement as principal lyric baritone with varied repertory including several Harnoncourt-Ponnelle productions at the Zurich opera

Awards & Honors

Distinguished Alumni Award in Recognition of Outstanding Accomplishments, Eastern Washington University

1982
Career Highlight

Sings title role in Hans Werner Henze’s Der Prinz von Homburg in Darmstadt, Germany

Career Highlight

Debuts in Köln, Hamburg, Munich and Santa Fe

Career Highlight

Sings Guglielmo in St. Louis Opera’s Così fan tutte, directed by Jonathan Miller, conducted by Calvin Simmons

1981
Career Highlight

Member of the ensemble of Düsseldorf’s Deutsche Oper am Rhein

Career Highlight

Debuts as Marcello in La Bohème; wins Metropolitan Opera Auditions in New York

1980
Career Highlight

Auditions in Europe; awarded contract for following season at Düsseldorf opera

Career Highlight

Wins Fuchs, Zachary Competitions; second place in San Francisco Opera Merola Auditions; enrolls in Merola program and studies with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf

Career Highlight

Sings La Bohème with Spokane Symphony, Don Thulean conductor

Career Highlight

Meets Horst Günter, who remains to this day his mentor

1979
Awards & Honors

Lotte Lehmann Medal, Music Academy of the West, Santa Barbara Bachelor of Fine Arts, Fort Wright College of the Holy Names, Spokane, Washington

1978
Awards & Honors

Young Artist Award (Voice Division) & Grand Award (Highest Achievement), Greater Spokane Music and’ Allied Arts Festival

Career Highlight

Studies at Music Academy of the West with Gwendolyn Koldowsky and Martial Singher

1974
Career Highlight

Operatic debut in local production of Hänsel und Gretel with Spokane Symphony under the baton of Don Thulean

1955
Career Highlight

Born in Elkhart, Indiana; raised and educated in Spokane, Washington; receives B.A. in Government from Eastern Washington University, Cheney and B.F.A. in Voice Performance from Fort Wright College, studying with Sr. Marietta Coyle

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