Mission

Walt Whitman

I sing ... the body electric, a song of myself, a song of joys, a song of occupations, a song of prudence, a song of the answerer, a song of the broad-axe, a song of the rolling earth, a song of the universal ...

 

The Hampsong Foundation is dedicated to the support and proliferation of the art of song in America and around the world as a means to foster communication and understanding among cultures. It was founded by Thomas Hampson, America’s foremost baritone and a passionate advocate of American music and Lieder. Through a series of dedicated song projects and in collaboration with key academic and cultural partners, Hampsong commissions composers and funds research to expand the song repertory and our knowledge of it, shares findings with the public through work- shops, seminars, master classes, recordings and new media, and provides, through its Web site, www.hampsong.org, a rich interactive resource and meeting place for lovers of song.

The Song Projects

Song Projects are the heartbeat of Hampsong. The projects explore the connections between poetry and music, history and culture, research and performance, society and song. Academic experts collaborate with performance specialists to illuminate composers’ work from page to stage. Through this work, the Foundation seeks to deepen our understanding of song as the most personal and natural form of human expression and and vital for communication in our lives today.
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The Song of America Project

Song of America is the Hampsong Foundation’s primary current focus. The project continues Thomas Hampson’s career-long dedication to American music and the work of his first Song of America collaboration with the Library of Congress in 2005-2006.
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Multimedia

  • coming soon.