Thomas Hammons

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Composer	Opera	Role
Adams	Death of Klinghoffer	Rambo
	Nixon in China	Henry Kissinger
Berg	Lulu	Schigloch
Britten	A Midsummer Night’s Dream	Bottom
	Billy Budd	Bosun
Donizetti	La Fille du Regiment	Suplice
	Don Pasquale	Don Pasquale
	L’Elisir d’Amore	Dulcamara
Gilbert & Sullivan	HMS Pinafore	Dick Deadeye
	Mikado	Mikado
Giordano	Andrea Chenier	Fouquier-Tinville
Janacek	Jenufa	Mayor
Lehar	The Merry Widow	Baron Zeta
Massenet	Werther	Baliff
Mozart	Le Nozze di Figaro	Dr. Bartolo
	Don Giovanni	Leporello
	Cosi fan Tutte	Don Alfonso
Mussgorsky	Boris Godunov	Varlaam
Offenbach	Les Contes d’Hoffmann	Crespel
Puccini	Gianni Schicchi	Gianni Schicchi
	La Boheme	Benoit, Alcindoro
	Tosca	Sacristan
	Manon Lescaut	Geronte
Rossini	Il Barbiere di Siviglia	Dr. Bartolo
	La Cenerentola	Don Magnifico
	L’Italiana in Algeri	Taddeo
Verdi	Falstaff	Pistol
Wagner	Die Mesitersinger	Ortel

Composer	Work
Beethoven	Choral Fantasy
	Symphony No. 9
Brahms	Requiem
Handel	Messiah
Haydn	Creation
Mozart	Requiem
Schubert	Mass in G
Rossini	Stabat Mater
Verdi	Requiem

Bass-baritone Thomas Hammons has been acclaimed throughout the United States, Canada, and across Europe, for the depth and richness of his portrayals and the strength and beauty of his singing. A versatile singing actor, Mr. Hammons has an active repertoire of over 60 roles maintaining equally at home in the classical buffo repertoire to the world of contemporary music, to modern musical theater.  He made his debut at The Metropolitan Opera as the Sacristan in Tosca during the 1996-97 Season, and took part in the premiere of Jonathan Miller’s acclaimed production of Le Nozze di Figaro. He has returned to the MET every season thereafter for numerous productions, most recently for Lulu, Le Nozze di Figaro and La Bohème.

Current and upcoming engagements include Benoit/Alcindoro in La Bohème with the Canadian Opera Company and Arizona Opera; Sacristan in Tosca with Dayton Opera; and the role of Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro and George Benton in Dead Man Walking with Central City Opera.

Mr. Hammons created the role of Henry Kissinger in the world premiere of Nixon in China by John Adams for the Houston Grand Opera in 1987. His iconic portrayal of Kissinger was subsequently seen in Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt, and Los Angeles, along with most recent revivals at the Canadian Opera Company, Cincinnati Opera, Opera Colorado, Vancouver Opera, and in concert with the Phoenix Symphony.  His association with John Adams has continued with his chilling portrayal of the terrorist Rambo in the inaugural performances of in The Death of Klinghoffer at the Opera de la Monnaie, Brussels, with subsequent performances in Lyon, Vienna, San Francisco, and at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. His creations of these two seminal works can be heard on the Nonesuch recordings of Nixon in China and The Death of Klinghoffer.

Noted engagements have included a concert version of La Bohème at The Hollywood Bowl under the baton of John Mauceri; a tour of Die Fledermaus with Seiji Ozawa in Japan; Dr. Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro at Barcelona’s famed Teatro Liceu; and most recently, his debut with the Lyric Opera of Chicago debut as Schigolch in Lulu.  He began his career as an Apprentice Artist at Santa Fe Opera in The Duchess of Malfi and has since appeared as Benoit/Alcindoro, Maharajah in Menotti’s The Last Savage, Dansker in Billy Budd, and Dulcamara in L’Elisir d’Amore. With the Cincinnati Opera, performances have included Benoit/Alcindoro in La Bohème, Hermann Ortel in Der Meistersinger, Sacristan in Tosca, Bartolo in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and Simone in Gianni Schicchi.

Additional famed performances have included Bartolo in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Vancouver Opera, Opera Colorado, L’Opera de Montreal, Michigan Opera Theatre, Opera Cleveland, and New Orleans Opera; Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro with Opera Colorado, Atlanta Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and Dayton Opera; Benoit/Alcindoro in La Bohème with Opera Colorado, the Atlanta Opera, and the Pacific Symphony; Dulcamara in L’Elisir d’Amore with L’Opera de Montreal, Michigan Opera Theatre, and Dayton Opera; and  Sulpice in La Fille du Régiment with L’Opera de Montreal; Sacristan in Tosca with both L’Opera de Montreal and Portland Opera; and Talpa in Il Tabarro with Opera Theatre St. Louis. Mr. Hammons is a graduate of the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where he studied with famed bass Italo Tajo.