June 8, 2021

In this episode, Thomas hosts a composer roundtable discussion with composers Peter Ashbourne, Rosephanye Dunn-Powell, and Brandon Spencer, all of whom have works featured on the mini-festival Song of America: A Celebration of Black Music.

May 4, 2021

In this episode, Thomas and Christie Finn (Managing Director of the Hampsong Foundation) are joined by composer, performer, and social justice artist Anthony R. Green and mezzo-soprano Ema Nikolovska. Ema will perform two pieces by Anthony in the Song of America: A Celebration of Black Music festival, part of the Hamburg International Music Festival.

May 18, 2021

In this episode, Thomas is joined by composer Dr. Adolphus Hailstork and soprano/scholar Dr. Louise Toppin, who is also co-curator of the festival with Thomas. Dr. Toppin will perform a few of Dr. Hailstork's songs at the festival. One of her many projects in service of the music of Black composers is putting out recordings and scores of Dr. Hailstork's songs.

May 27, 2021
(Bonus Thursday Episode)

In this episode, Thomas chats with with baritone Justin Austin and composers Shawn Okpebholo and Damien Sneed. Shawn and Damien both have works featured on Song of America: A Celebration of Black Music concerts, and Justin will sing both of those works.

Women's Song Forum

WSF is an online forum devoted to women’s voices in song, to the many songs by women, and to the many female musicians working in and with song, who have yet to be given the attention they deserve. The Women’s Song Forum provides an opportunity to expand and enhance knowledge and understanding of this rich and significant area of musical practice and scholarship, and – as the name “forum” suggests – aims to encourage discussion and debate across different interest groups. It is also hoped that the forum will give access to performances of music that are otherwise hard to access.

April 13, 2021

In this episode, as part of his "Song and Beyond" takeover this month, Stephen Rodgers chats with Christopher Reynolds and Marian Wilson Kimber.

Both Christopher Reynolds (UC Davis) and Marian Wilson Kimber (University of Iowa) are members of the Women's Song Forum team, and they have written and posted about early 20th century songs by women. Dr. Reynolds created the forum; he is currently writing a biography of composer Carrie Jacobs Bond. Dr. Kimber's most recent book, The Elocutionists: Women, Music, and the Spoken Word, explores the forgotten world of accompanied recitation.

April 27, 2021

In this episode, as part of his "Song and Beyond" takeover this month, Stephen Rodgers chats with Larry Todd and Susan Wollenberg. Larry Todd (Duke University) is the author of the authoritative biography Fanny Hensel: The Other Mendelssohn, and Susan Wollenberg (Oxford) is a composer, a specialist on songs by women composers and co-editor of Women and the Nineteenth-Century Lied.

March 2, 2021

In this episode, Thomas Hampson chats with Christie Finn, Managing Director of the Hampsong Foundation, for the beginning of Women's History Month. In this pre-recorded conversation, they discuss their “There is No Gender in Music” radio program from the Song of America series, as well as some resources on Song of America and The Hampsong Foundation website related to women artists.

Feb. 2, 2021

In this episode, Thomas speaks with Dr. Louise Toppin and Roderick Cox. Dr. Toppin is a Professor of Music, Voice at the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre, and Dance; she is also a distinguished scholar of the music of African American composers and an internationally-acclaimed soprano. Roderick Cox is an American conductor based in Berlin and winner of the 2018 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award; he has gained international attention for recent performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Houston Grand Opera, and Philharmonia Orchestra (London).

Jan. 5, 2021

This episode marks the beginning of Schubert month on Hampson's "World of Song" series. Thomas will speak with two of the great living Schubert scholars: Susan Youens and Graham Johnson.

SPECIAL EDITION: Jan. 21, 2021

In this episode, Thomas is joined by several young artists and colleagues participating in the Schubert Week at the Pierre Boulez Saal (Berlin) to discuss the great composer, his incredible catalogue of songs, and their experiences performing Schubert.

Dec. 1, 2020

In this episode, Thomas chats with Steven Blier, co-founder and Artistic Director of the New York Festival of Song (NYFOS), as well as an accomplished collaborative pianist and vocal coach. He is renowned for his scholarship, especially in uncovering and reviving gems of vocal repertoire through NYFOS, and has an extensive discography, which includes many contemporary works.

Dec. 15, 2020

In this episode, four fantastic scholars from previous Song and Beyond and World of Song conversations on IDAGIO - Benjamin Binder, Stephen Rodgers, Laura Tunbridge, and Susan Youens - join Hampson for a "Song Roundtable."

Nov. 3, 2020

In this episode, Thomas chats with Dr. Mark Clague, Associate Professor of Musicology and Entrepreneurship & Leadership, and also Associate Dean for Undergraduate Academic Affairs, at the University of Michigan, School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. Dr. Clague is an expert on “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and is currently writing a book on the Banner, its mythology and history, and the role that it has played, and continues to play, in American Democracy.

Nov. 24, 2020

In this episode, Thomas chats with Jeff Lunden, freelance arts reporter and producer whose stories have been heard on NPR's Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition, as well as on other public radio programs. Mr. Lunden has written several scripts for The Hampsong Foundation, including "Arthur Farwell, American Pioneer" (Song of America), "The New World Order" (Song: Mirror of the World) and "The Return of Melody" (Song: Mirror of the World). He has won several awards for his work, including the Gold Medal from the New York Festival International Radio Broadcasting Awards and a CPB Award, and is also an award-winning theater composer.

Oct. 13, 2020

In this episode, Thomas chats with Stephen Rodgers, a music theory and musicianship professor at the University of Oregon. Rodgers wrote the script for The Hampsong Foundation's Song: Mirror of the World program "Fascination with the Foreign," and he is an expert on the relationship between poetry and music, as well as women composers, especially Fanny Hensel.

Oct. 27, 2020

In this episode, Thomas chats with Darryl Taylor, an exceptional countertenor and Professor at UC Irvine. Darryl's recordings (especially settings of Langston Hughes) feature prominent in The Hampsong Foundation's Song of America series, and he is the founder of the African American Art Song Alliance, an important and singular organization for the advancement and dissemination of songs composed by African American composers.

September 1, 2020

To kick off the series, Thomas Hampson chats with Hampsong Foundation Managing Director Christie Finn, who wrote scripts for several radio programs in the Song of America and Song: Mirror of the World series.

September 15, 2020

In this episode, Thomas and Christie Finn, Managing Director of The Hampsong Foundation, chat with composers Lori Laitman and B.E. Boykin. The episode centers on Women's Creativity, using the Song of America program "There is No Gender in Music" as the starting point. Together, they also discuss their work as musicians and composers today, especially as composers of vocal music and song.

September 29, 2020

In this episode, Thomas chats with Terrance McKnight, the evening host on WQXR and the Artistic Advisor for the Harlem Chamber Players. Mr McKnight wrote the script for the Foundation's Song of America program "Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance."