Daniel TAYLOR

Voice

Associate Professor of Voice and Opera, Head of the Historical Performance Area

Faculty of Music. University of Toronto, Canada.

“Beauty of his voice will stop you in your tracks…”

Gramophone

“His star is rising as fast as the speed of sound…Daniel Taylor, a new Conductor on the scene breathing new life into magnificent yet neglected choral masterpieces.”

Globe and Mail

Daniel Taylor is one of the most sought-after countertenors in the world. Recognition of Daniel’s work can be seen in the Gramophone, Grammy, Juno, Opus, CBC-SRC and Adisq Awards. He was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Medal for service to music. Daniel appears on more than 120 recordings which include Bach Cantatas with the Monteverdi Choir dir. Gardiner for Deutsche Grammophone Archiv and SDG; Renaissance duets with Bowman and Chance, Actors Ralph Fiennes and Jeremy Irons; Handel’s Rinaldo with Bartoli and AAM dir. Hogwood for Decca; Before Bach with Collegium Vocale dir. Herreweghe for Harmonia Mundi; Sakamoto’s pop-opera Life for Sony; Bach Cantatas with Bach Collegium Japan fir Suzuki for BIS; Vivaldi’s Stabat Mater for BIS; five recordings of Handel’s Messiah, including those with the Montreal Symphony/Nagano for Universal, Kammerchor Stuttgart/ Bernius for Carus, with the Handel & Haydn Society (Coro), with the American Bach Soloists/Thomas (Koch )and a CD/DVD with Tafelmusik/Taurins for Bravo Television. Daniel has recorded the CD/DVD of Bach’s B minor Mass with the Ensemble Orchestral Paris/Nelson for EMI Virgin and also with the Kammerchor Stuttgart /Bernius (Carus). Recently, Daniel’s recording of Angelheart with cellist Matt Haimovitz, mezzo Frederica Von Stade and Actor Jeremy Irons with Producer David Foster won a Grammy.

“He is part angel, part man.”

The Guardian, UK

Daniel’s extraordinary series of recordings for SONY include The Voice of Bach and Come Again Sweet Love as well as his award-winning choral recordings with ensemble he founded and conducts, The Trinity Choir: Four Thousand Winter, The Tree of Life and The Path to Paradise.

Daniel’s professional operatic debut was at the Glyndebourne Festival followed by his North American operatic debut at the New York Metropolitan Opera. He continued to the Rome Opera, Welsh National Opera, Canadian Opera, Opera North, in Munich and at the Edinburgh Festival. He has joined leading orchestras including San Francisco, Los Angeles, London, Lisbon, Cleveland, National Arts Centre, Toronto, New York Philharmonic, Gothenburg and Scottish National, as well as the Dallas Symphony and the Israel Philharmonic. Daniel receives invitations from an ever-widening circle of the world’s leading early and contemporary music ensembles, appearing in opera (Metropolitan Opera, Glyndebourne, San Francisco, Rome, Welsh National Opera, Canadian Opera, Opera North, Montreal Opera and Munich); oratorio (Gabrieli Consort, Monteverdi Choir/English Baroque Soloists, Bach Collegium Japan, Les Arts Florissants, Berlin Akademie fur Alte Musik, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, King’s Consort); symphonic works (Cleveland, St. Louis, Lisbon, Philadelphia, Tonhalle Zurich, Toronto, Gothenburg, Rotterdam, Montreal); recital (Vienna Konzerthaus, Frick Collection, New York, Forbidden Concert Hall and Carnegie).

“The superstar countertenor of our time and Canada’s most prolific classical recording artist.”

CBC Radio

Daniel is a Visiting Faculty Member of the Siena Liberal Arts University (Italy), Victoria Conservatory of Music in British Columbia (Canada), Casalmaggiore (Italy), the Académie Fourvière Lyon (France) and Amalfi Opera (Italy). He has given guest masterclasses across Canada and the United States and at the Royal Academy of Music (UK), Sao Paolo University (Argentina), Beijing Conservatory (China), Royal College of Music (UK), Oberlin Conservatory (Ohio), Bloomington University (Indiana), University of Vienna (Austria) and Guildhall School of Music (UK). Daniel is Artistic Director and Conductor of the Choir and Orchestra of the Theatre of Early Music.

Daniel Taylor is Associate Professor of Voice and Opera and Head of the Historical Performance Area at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto. He leads the growing Historical Performance Area with graduate and post-graduate level programs. His scholarship and teaching includes exploring the relationship between performance and well-being leading to the building of healthy and sustainable technique. Daniel’s students appear on the stages of orchestras and opera houses across Europe, Asia, North and South America. He is praised for his clarity in instruction, his deep dedication to his students and his “shepherding of the elite voices of today.” (Wholenote Magazine)

In Daniel’s words:“The search for the meaning of spirituality in this life is the foundation – the cornerstone – on which artistic expression is built. Studying singing requires reference points that are in the here and now. In our work together, we are taken profoundly into the heart of the song, finding the joy and understanding the sorrow. This is a transformative experience that allows authentic artistry and our voice to live within and beyond the architecture. Understanding the mechanics is key and from there we really do have to move on – we develop our power, we look with a keen eye at the first stages of career development, we explore and serve the score – and with the text we discover our freedom.”