Encompass Arts

The young American Bass Kevin Thompson is rapidly emerging as that rare breed of Basso Profundo possessing a commanding stage presence and a voice with extraordinary range, depth, and color. The excitement his performances generate has captured international acclaim: “He has a voluminous bass with its exquisite overtone-rich timbres and rafter-shaking sonority.”(Kieler Nachrichten); “A mountain of a voice, with resonance from the Escorial of Philip II, the throne of Boris Godunov, and the majestic court of Sarastro. Thompson delivered all the goods…..” (San Francisco Classical Voice). The Italian Voice, “…thrilling, huge, cavernous with a full round register and profound interpretive gifts that evoke memories of Paul Robeson and Boris Christoff rolled into one”.

Mr. Thompson’s 2010-2011 season includes a return to New York City Opera singing Ned in Treemonisha; a concert at Sarasota Opera, his Carnegie Hall debut with the American Symphony Orchestra in the US Premiere of Haggadah shel Pesah (Passover in Exile) by Dessau; the Verdi Requiem with the Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra; Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with Queens College Choral Society; Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni with Shreveport Opera; and, Mr. Thompson won the Audience Favorite Prize at the Sun Valley Competition in 2010.

Last season, 2009-10, Mr. Thompson made his German debut as Il Re in Aida at Oper Kiel where he also sang Hans Schwartz in Die Meistersinger and covered the lead role in Méphistophélès. His Munich debut was at the Gasteig with the Biennale Modern Music Festival in the world premiere of Die Weisse Fürstin. During the 2008-09 season, Mr. Thompson debuted at New York City Opera as Martel in Troubled Island and with Augusta Opera as Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd . He was awarded top prizes in 2009 at the Liederkranz Foundation, by the Florida Grand Opera, and with Career Bridges. Mr. Thompson’s other operatic roles have included Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, Colline in La Bohème, Sparafucile in Rigoletto, Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni, Frank Maurrant in Weill’s Street Scene, Grandpa Moss in Copland’s Tender Land, Le Bailli in Massenet’s Werther, and the Jailer in Tosca.

Mr. Thompson is at home on both the opera and concert stage. In addition to solo concerts and the choral works referenced above, he has sung the music for Bass in the Mozart Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Stravinsky’s Les Noces, Haydn’s The Creation, and the Lord Nelson Mass. He has appeared in concert in Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, and Russia. American concert appearances include at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Library of Congress, Barns of Wolftrap, the Pentagon, and with the United States Naval Academy Band.

Mr. Thompson has sung under the baton of conductors Julius Rudel, Edoardo Muller, Andreas Delfs, Alexander Kalajdzic,, Grant Gershon, Leon Botstien, Mark Flint, Dean Williamson and David Zinmin.

A native of Washington, D.C., Mr. Thompson is an alumnus of San Francisco Opera’s prestigious Merola Program, The Juilliard School in New York, Dolora Zajick’s Institute for Dramatic Young Voices, AIMS Graz (American Institute of Musical Studies) and Aspen Music Festival. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the National Symphony Competition, the Don Giovanni International Competition, the Meistersinger Competition, Marian Anderson Scholar, the Paul Robeson Competition, and the Rosa Ponselle Competition. As a permanent part of the Smithsonian Institute’s Hirschorn Gallery in Washington, D.C., Mr. Thompson is featured singing “Old Man River” in an audio walk artwork exhibit entitled Words Drawn in Water by artist Janet Cardiff