May 3, 2021 3:00 pm

Thomas Hampson, America’s foremost baritone, has received international honors and awards for his captivating artistry and cultural leadership. Lauded as a Metropolitan Opera Guild “Met Mastersinger” and inducted into both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and Gramophone’s “Hall of Fame,” Hampson is one of the most respected and innovative musicians of our time. With an operatic repertoire of over 80 roles sung in all the major theaters of the world, his discography comprises more than 170 albums, which include multiple nominations and winners of the Grammy Award, Edison Award, and the Grand Prix du Disque. He received the 2009 Distinguished Artistic Leadership Award from the Atlantic Council in Washington, DC, and was appointed the New York Philharmonic’s first-ever Artist-in-Residence. In 2010, he was honored with a Living Legend Award by the Library of Congress, where he has served as Special Advisor to the Study and Performance of Music in America. Furthermore, he has received the famed Concertgebouw Prize.

Highlights of Thomas Hampson’s 2019/20 season include his return to the Wiener Staatsoper in his signature role of Giorgio Germont in Verdi’s La Traviata, and his return to Teatro alla Scala for a role debut as Altair in Strauss’ Die ägyptische Helena. At Opernhaus Zürich, he creates the role of Jan Vermeer in the world premiere of Stefan Wirth’s Girl with a Pearl Earring, based on the American author Tracy Chevalier’s eponymous novel about the famous portrait study by Dutch master, Johannes Vermeer.

Notable engagements on the concert stage include Schumann’s Dichterliebe with pianist Jan Lisiecki and a concert with the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra at the Tsinandali Festival; Schubert lieder with the Orchester Wiener Akademie at the Brucknerhaus Linz and Musikverein; a recital with Wolfram Rieger and a masterclass at Wigmore Hall; Beethoven’s An die ferne Geliebte on tour with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta; and rising star soprano Angel Blue joins him in concert at Royal Opera House Muscat.

Hampson also takes his “No Tenors Allowed” program to Provo, Utah, and on to the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires for a debut with his son-in-law, bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni. He returns to Berlin’s Boulezsaal for Schubert Week, launching with a program of Schubert’s Winterreise with Wolfram Rieger. His “Song of America: Beyond Liberty” project continues this season with performances in Tucson and Seattle, with pianist Lara Downes and the Beyond Liberty Players.

In the 2018/19 season, Thomas Hampson made two highly anticipated house debuts, at the Canadian Opera Company, singing the title role in the world premiere of Rufus Wainwright’s Hadrian, as well as at Houston Grand Opera, where he created the role of the famed librettist Lorenzo da Ponte in the premiere of Tarik O’Regan’s The Phoenix.

On the concert stage, Hampson continued to show his great repertoire diversity in the 2018/19 season. In Vienna, he performed Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem with the Wiener Symphoniker under Philippe Jordan, in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. He then engaged on an extensive tour with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under Vasily Petrenko, with works by Hugo Wolf, Aaron Copland, and others. He started the New Year with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and conductor Bramwell Tovey singing Copland’s Old American Songs, before he reunited with clarinetist Daniel Ottensamer and his ensemble the Wiener Virtuosen, for a chamber music concert with Dvořák’s Zigeunerlieder and a selection of Mahler songs at Vienna’s Musikverein.

Further orchestral concerts brought Hampson to Munich with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under the baton of Mariss Jansons (Kurt Weill: Four Walt Whitman Songs), to Berlin with the Radio Symphony Orchestra and Vladimir Jurowsky (Mahler: Rückert Lieder) and to Japan, where he performed Mahler Songs with the Gewandhaus Orchestra and Andris Nelsons. Thomas Hampson gave several gala performances with renowned vocal partners throughout the season, in Tokyo with Angela Gheorgiu, in Baden-Baden with Nadine Sierra, with Kristine Opolais in Leipzig, and at the Ljubiljana Festival with Elena Mosuc. He was also once again the star in the Bayerische Staatsoper’s summer open-air gala “Oper für Alle” under the baton of renowned conductor Kirill Petrenko. He reunited with Luca Pisaroni for their “No Tenors Allowed” program in Boston, Toronto, and Santa Fe.

The 2018/19 season also marked the exciting launch of Thomas Hampson’s “Song of America: Beyond Liberty” project. In this one-man show, Hampson guides audiences through stories using personal anecdotes, historical monologues, and readings of his favorite poetry, to celebrate America’s history through song. The project, developed with stage director Francesca Zambello and writer Royce Vavrek, premiered at the Glimmerglass Festival, and shares the rich history of the people and events that helped create and define “the land of the free” with audiences, students, and educators across the US and beyond. Through The Hampsong Foundation, which he founded in 2003, he employs the art of song to promote intercultural dialogue and understanding.

Hampson is an honorary professor on the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Heidelberg, and holds honorary doctorates from Manhattan School of Music, the New England Conservatory, Whitworth College, and San Francisco Conservatory, and is an honorary member of London’s Royal Academy of Music. He carries the titles of Kammersänger of the Wiener Staatsoper and Commandeur dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of the Republic of France, and was awarded the Austrian Medal of Honor in Arts and Sciences. In 2017, Thomas Hampson received the Hugo Wolf Medal from the International Hugo Wolf Academy, together with his long-time musical collaborator, pianist Wolfram Rieger. Hampson was awarded the Heidelberger Frühling Music Prize in 2019.

Thomas Hampson enjoys a singular international career as an opera singer, recording artist, and “ambassador of song,” maintaining an active interest in research, education, musical outreach, and technology, continually expanding his pedagogical activities. He is the Artistic Director of the Heidelberg Lied Academy, and collaborates with the Barenboim-Said Academy Schubert Week in Berlin each year. His recurring international master class schedule is a continuing online resource of the Manhattan School of Music, Medici.tv, and The Hampsong Foundation livestream channel.

Jasmine Ismail: Jasmine Ismail is a second-year Master’s degree candidate at Manhattan School of Music. Recent scene work includes Strauss’ Arabella (Arabella) and Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro (Countess) with Manhattan School of Music. She will soon be performing the role of Lauretta from Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi with Berlin Opera Academy. Miss Ismail is under the tutelage of Ruth Golden.

Evangeline Ng: Taiwanese-Singaporean Soprano Evangeline Ng is a fourth-year undergraduate student under the tutelage of Joan Patenaude-Yarnell. She was most recently named the First Prize Winner of the New York Young Performer’s Prize 2021. Other accolades include: First Prize at the inaugural Singapore Lyric Opera ASEAN Vocal Competition, Gold Award at the 4th Asia Arts Festival, and Second Prize at NAFA Vocal Competition. Operatic roles include: Le nozze di Figaro (Susanna), Die Zauberflöte (Pamina), Hansel and Gretel (Sandman) and L’incoronazione di Poppea (Poppea). Highlights of her scene work include: Manon (Manon), Don Pasquale (Norina), Carmen (Micäela), Orphée aux enfers (Eurydice), among others. She was named a Grant Park Music Festival Project Inclusion Fellow and will be joining the Houston Grand Opera Young Artist Vocal Academy this summer.

Yile Huang: Mezzo-soprano Yile Huang is a second-year Master’s candidate at Manhattan School of Music with a merit scholarship, studying with Maitland Peters. Born in Inner Mongolia, China. Yile completed her undergraduate studies at Shanghai Conservatory of Music with Xiaoqun Chen. Previous credits include La Traviata (Flora Bervoix) and Don Giovanni (Chorus). Scene work includes Così fan tutte (Dorabella), Die Zauberflöte (Zweite Dame), Alcina (Bradamante) and Akhenaten (Sotopenre) with Manhattan School of Music. She was also chosen as a member of the Shanghai Baroque Solo Group for three consecutive years worked with Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in Shanghai Symphony Hall. She was invited to Italy with a full scholarship to perform opera Suor Angelica. Upcoming performances at MSM include the Collaborative Piano/Singers Seminar and a degree recital.

Michael Leyte-Vidal: Bass-baritone Michael Leyte-Vidal is a second-year Master’s degree candidate from Miami, Florida studying with Ashley Putnam. Michael received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater from Florida State University. Scene work at MSM includes Sam in Un Ballo in Maschera, and John Proctor in The Crucible. Michael will be presenting his graduation recital on May 21st at Riverside Church.

Sarah Bacani: Filipino-American soprano Sarah Rachel Bacani is a fourth-year undergraduate at Manhattan School of Music under the tutelage of Cynthia Hoffmann. This season, Ms. Bacani performed as the soprano soloist for Benjamin Britten’s Les Illuminations with the MSM String Chamber Orchestra, under the baton of Maestro George Manahan. Previous scene work includes the roles of Ottavia (The Coronation of Poppea), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), and Susanna, Contessa and Barbarina (Le nozze di Figaro). An alumnus of Classic Lyric Arts La Lingua della Lirica and the Franz Schubert Institut, she has performed in masterclasses with Andreas Schmidt, Julius Drake, Helmut Deutsch, Rolando Panerai, Robert Holl, Roger Vignoles, Wolfram Rieger and Donata D’Annunzio Lombardi. Before their cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms. Bacani was slated to appear in Carmen (Frasquita) at Miami Music Festival and Chérubin (L’Ensoleillade) at Manhattan School of Music. Upcoming performances include Miss Jessel (Turn of the Screw) and Sifare (Mitridate, re di ponto) with Manhattan School of Music’s Senior Opera Theater.

Travis Bloom: With a passion for the vocal arts, Mr. Bloom’s coaching platform is based on musical accuracy, performance practice techniques, dramatic integrity, diction accuracy, and vocal health in alignment with the Bel Canto school of singing.

In 2012, Mr. Bloom was an M.M. Voice Performance student at the illustrious Jacobs School of Music where he also studied accompanying/opera coaching with Kevin Murphy. The following year, he joined the Indiana University Ballet and Opera Theater music staff as pianist/coach for Rossini’s Italian Girl in Algiers, Menotti’s The Last Savage, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific, Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, and J. Strauss’ Die Fledermaus. While at Indiana Univeristy he accompanied numerous voice recitals, master classes, competitions, auditions, and opera workshop productions.  Prior to coaching at IU, he worked as the chorus master for the Buck Hill Skytop Music Festival (2010-2012) training opera choruses for Bizet’s Carmen and Verdi’s La Traviata. In the summer of 2015, Mr. Bloom served as the staff pianist for the Sankt Goar International Music Festival and Academy in Germany where he was also selected by casting director, Andreas Geier, to accompany auditions at the Baden-Baden Opera House.

Since joining the New York City classical music scene, Mr. Bloom has served as a staff pianist for the Bronx Opera Company, the International Vocal Arts Institute under the direction of Joan Dornemann and Paul Nadler, and was the faculty coach for Joan Patenaude-Yarnell’s summer voice institute in NYC. In 2020, Mr. Bloom served as the cover pianist for the highly anticipated debut of Intimate Apparel by Ricky Ian Gordon at Lincoln Center.

This past summer, Mr. Bloom was on staff as a coach with the Chautauqua Institution Voice Program where he worked closely with Ricky Ian Gordon to present song recitals with the young singers. Adapting to a virtual summer of music, Chautauqua invited Mr. Bloom back to collaborate with young singers for online recitals during the 2020 COVID-19 quarantine.

Mr. Bloom serves as a faculty coach and accompanist at the Manhattan School of Music.

Fumiyasu Kawase: Fumiyasu Kawase is a Collaborative pianist from Japan. He is currently pursuing a Professional studies Certificate in Collaborative Piano with Warren Jones at Manhattan School of Music. He received his bachelor’s and Master’s degree from Nihon University of Art.  As a collaborative pianist specialized in vocal repertoire, he has participated various Opera productions and performed a lot of concerts in Japan. In addition, he participated summer programs including Tokyo International Vocal Art Academy (2017-2019), Voci nel Montefertro in Italy (2016, 2017, 2019).  Mr. Kawase, as an accompanist, performed National Anthems (Japanese and American) for celebrating Japanese Emperor’s birthday at Japan Ambassador to United States’s residence in New York. He received a favorable reputation from Ambassador Caroline Bouvier Kennedy, who served as the United States Ambassador to Japan 2013 to 2017.  Mr. Kawase was given President award scholarship from Manhattan School of Music.

Tongyao Li: TONGYAO LI is currently a Professional Study student in collaborative piano for vocal at Manhattan School of Music under Kenneth Merrill’s tutorage. She is a New York-based collaborative pianist from China. She gained her master’s degree in piano performance in Shanghai Conservatory of Music and collaborative piano for vocal from Manhattan School of Music. Tongyao won prizes in competitions held in Italy and China during this period. She performed solo and chamber music both in the United States and China. She performed solo of Ravel, Debussy and Schubert, chamber music of Grieg and Mozart in the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Concert Hall and China Art Museum. In 2017 and 2018, she played Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Don Giovanni in He Luting Concert Hall in Shanghai Conservatory of Music. In 2018, Tongyao became a student in Kenneth Merrill’s studio in Manhattan School of Music and has participated in productions of La Rondine. In 2019-2020, she has served as a rehearsal pianist for opera I due Figaro and Martha. She became a scholarship student of the collaborative piano program in Aspen Music Festival and School 2019 Summer Season and she hold her recital in Harris Hall in Aspen. In 2020, Tongyao was chosen to be an opera coach fellow in the Aspen Opera Theater and VocalARTS of Aspen Music Festival and School.

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Erlkönig

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