Encompass Arts

“The voice booms, roars, rumbles through his 6’5” frame and bellows forth when he sings, even when he speaks, a Basso Profundo” (The Washington Post). His singing is described as “Thrilling, huge, cavernous and evokes memories of Paul Robeson and Boris Christoff rolled into one” (The Italian Voice) Mr. Thompson is at home in both opera and concert. This season 2009-2010 makes his debut with Oper Kiel in Kiel, Germany where he will perform major roles in Aida, Der Meistersinger and Faust. In 2008-2009 made debuts with The New York City Opera as Martel in William Grant Still’s Troubled Island, and with Augusta Opera as Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd. He also was awarded top prizes in 2009 at the Liederkranz Foundation, Florida Grand Opera and with Career Bridges. He has portrayed 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, and Bailli in Massenet’s Werther. Mr. Thompson’s concert hall performances have included the Verdi Requiem, the Mozart Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Stravinsky’s Les Noces, and Haydn’s The Creation, and the Lord Nelson Mass. He has given performances in Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, and Russia. American appearances include Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, The Library of Congress, Barns of Wolftrap, The Pentagon and in Annapolis with the United States Naval Academy Band. He has sung under the baton of conductors Alexander Kalajdzic, Edoardo Muller, Julius Rudel, Grant Gerhwin, Andreas Delfs, Mark Flint and David Zimmerman.

A native of Washington, D.C., Mr. Thompson is an alumnus of The Juilliard School. He is the recipient of numerous awards and scholarships from the Paul Robeson Competition, the Rosa Ponselle Competition, the National Symphony Competition, Don Giovanni International Competition, the Meistersinger Competition, Marian Anderson Scholar, the AIMS Graz (American Institute of Musical Studies), and the Aspen Music Festival. 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.