A lively mix of music and conversation with baritone Thomas Hampson and California Poet Laureate Dana Gioia in the Concert Hall at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, this event took place on June 14, 2016.

An event of the Hampsong Foundation, in collaboration with the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and the Adler Fellowship Program of the San Francisco Opera, this public conversation was presented in conjunction with Thomas Hampson’s performances of John Adams’s The Wound Dresser at the San Francisco Symphony. The evening included a conversation between Mr. Hampson and Mr. Gioia on the topic of American song of all forms and its unique position to tell the history of American culture. Live song performances, including musical settings of Mr. Gioia’s poetry and the poetry of Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson, followed the conversation. Performers include mezzo-soprano Renée Rapier, bass-baritone Brad Walker, and pianist Peter Grunberg.