The Bar-iPhone Voice

Thomas Hampson has launched an iPhone app. Its release coincides with the start of the 2009-10 iteration of his "Song of America" project, a series of recitals of American song, programmed in collaboration with the Library of Congress, that started in the 2005-6 season. The current recitals (which begin tonight in Winona, MN, and go on to Ravinia, Tanglewood, and elsewhere) will be attended by recordings by Minnesota Public Radio and WFMT which can then be downloaded via instantencore.com or by iPhone users on Hampson's own new app.

So-called "new technology" has proven a bit of a stumbling-block already. When you look for information about the project on the baritone's spiffy website at hampsong.com, you get a blank page; far more informative is the same link at the related website hampsong.org. Still, the guy has links to Flickr, iPhone, Youtube, and even his own wiki; he definitely "gets" new media. It remains to be seen whether his interest is reciprocated by the new-media audience.

Edited to add: Now that I've finally downloaded the app, I'm less impressed; it's just another app from instantencore.com, which has put out a number of them, including one from the New York Philharmonic. But it is nice to see some classical music groups getting into the game.