American baritone Thomas Hampson enjoys a wide-ranging career as a singer of lieder, opera, oratorio, and works for voice and orchestra. He is also a leading proponent of the study of American song, working actively with the Hampsong Foundation, which is devoted to using the art of the song to promote intercultural dialogue and understanding.

Mr. Hampson's 2008–09 season began with performances on the gala opening nights of both The Metropolitan Opera, where he appeared as Germont opposite soprano Renée Fleming in Verdi's La traviata, and at Carnegie Hall, where he performed at the opening of the Hall's 113th season with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony. Orchestral performance highlights include a European tour with the UBS Verbier Orchestra; a performance of Britten's War Requiem, with Anthony Pappano conducting, at the Royal Albert Hall; and performances of Mahler's Songs of a Wayfarer with the Orchestre de Paris, conducted by Christoph Eschenbach, and at Carnegie Hall with the Berlin Staatskapelle conducted by Daniel Barenboim. Operatic highlights include other appearances at The Met: his role debut as Athanaël in Massenet's Thaïs, and the title role of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. In the spring of 2009 he will make his role debut as Scarpia in Puccini's Tosca at the Zurich Opera, and will later appear at London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in Verdi's La traviata with Ms. Fleming. He will also perform in recital in Berlin, Lisbon, Prague, Heidelberg, and in selected cities around the U.S.

Mr. Hampson's repertoire includes the title roles of Mozart's Don Giovanni; Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia and Guillaume Tell; Verdi's Macbeth and Simon Boccanegra; Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin; Massenet's Werther; Busoni's Doktor Faust; Szymanowski's King Roger; Britten's Billy Budd; Hans Werner Henze's Der Prinz von Homburg; and Friedrich Cerha's Der Riese vom Steinfeld, which had its world premiere in Vienna in 2002. Mr. Hampson has also sung the Count in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro and Oreste in Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride. He regularly appears with The Metropolitan Opera, Zurich Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Opéra National de Paris, and Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Mr. Hampson has made more than 150 recordings, many of which are available on DVD, and on his own label, Thomas Hampson Media (THM). His program "I Hear America Singing" has been featured on PBS's Great Performers series. Many of his recordings have won prizes, including Grammy® and Gramophone Awards, Grand Prix du Disque, Edison Prize, and the Echo Klassik. Mr. Hampson's operatic performances on DVD include Macbeth, Simon Boccanegra, Don Giovanni, and Werther.

Thomas Hampson is a singer, actor, scholar, teacher, passionate golf player, avid collector of books, and a committed advocate of new technologies. Raised in Spokane, Washington, and educated at Eastern Washington University (Cheney) and Fort Wright College (Spokane), Mr. Hampson studied with Martial Singher, Horst Günter, and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.