Darryl Taylor, Countertenor

Darryl Taylor's performances have been noted for their compelling artistry and authority. His is an international career highlighted by performances of art song, opera and oratorio. His repertoire extends from Bach to Britten, and beyond.
Mr. Taylor has appeared with orchestras in the USA and in Europe. These include the Hot Springs Festival Orchestra, the Johann Strauss Sinfonietta of Vienna, the W.A. Mozart Philharmonic of Cluj, Romania, Camerata Mediterania of Barcelona, Cypress Masterworks Chorale and Orchestra, and the Aspen Music Festival (Young Artists Series), under the batons of conductors Richard Rosenberg, Conxita Garcia, Cristian Florea, Gert Meditz, Gustav Meier, James Vail, Rebecca Burkhardt, and Bruce Nehring. Among his operatic credits is the premier of the jazzopera by Nathan Davis, Just Above My Head, on the novel by James Baldwin (role of Jimmy), lead roles in operas by Mozart, Verdi, Handel, Britten, and Gershwin. Taylor's international itinerary includes some 19 tours of Spain, singing to enthusiastic, capacity audiences.
Darryl Taylor's New York Recital debut took place at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. In addition to his classical credits, he has been associated with such notable jazz greats as Kenny Burrell, Hubert Laws, Jimmy Owens, Nathan Davis, and Nnenna Freelon. Taylor’s recitals have regularly introduced audiences to works of composers like William Grant Still, George Walker, Adolphus Hailstork, John Musto, Deon Nielsen Price, Edward Hart, Richard Thomspon, Ted Wiprud, Leslie Adams, and Hale Smith. Many of these works were written especially for Taylor's voice. Recent highlights of his performances include a highly successful recital at the famed Liszt Music Academy in Budapest; Royce Hall in Los Angeles, Merkin Concert Hall in New York, Spanish television and radio broadcasts from Barcelona's Palau de la Música, and the Hochschüle für Musik in Munich, Germany. He was a featured artist under the sponsorship of the Cultural Committee for the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona and was heard in Messiah at Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC.
Founder of the African American Art Song Alliance, Taylor has debuted numerous works, including Daniel Bernard Roumaine's Epilogue, 1965 (a performance with the composer on violin and George Shirley as narrator), Erik Santos' Dreamer: Seven Poems by Langston Hughes, Deon Nielsen Price's To the Children of War, Theodore Wiprud's A Georgia Song, Richard Thompson’s Dream Variations, and Edward Hart’s The Caged Bird Sings. His recordings on Naxos and Albany record labels have received lavish praise. "Love Rejoices: Songs of H. Leslie Adams" was a Number One Critic's Choice for American Record Guide (John Boyer) for the year 2001. Others of his recordings include Dreamer: A Portrait of Langston Hughes, on the Naxos label, which featured William Warfield as narrator, Poetry Prelude: Music of Richard Thompson, Fields of Wonder: Songs and Spirituals of Robert Owens, and the forthcoming . Louis Moreau Gottschalk: Complete Orchestral Works and Escénas Campestres Cubanas with the Hot Springs Festival Orchestra, Richard Rosenberg, conductor.
Taylor is much sought after as a lecturer on African-American Art Song, having given lecture-recitals/master classes at the Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, the University of Michigan, Florida State University, Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Florida A&M University, Bethune-Cookman College, Virginia Union University, Marygrove College, for the International Alliance for Women in Music, the NATS Convention in Philadelphia, and at Morehouse College, among many others.
A native of Detroit, Michigan, Darryl Taylor holds degrees from the University of Southern California and the University of Michigan. He is a member of Mu Phi Epsilon Music Fraternity, Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honors Society, and is on the Board of Directors for Videmus, Inc. Currently he serves on the faculty of the University of California at Irvine.
A SELECTION OF CRITICAL RESPONSES
“Darryl Taylor plumbed the greatness of Langston Hughes…He is intense without pleading and likable without effort…It’s an engaging dynamic, the way he comes to the audience and then lets the audience come to him. Singing or speaking, Taylor savored the beauty and power of Hughes’ writing and graciously shared it with the rest of us.”
Tom Strini, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
"(Dreamer: A Portrait of Langston Hughes) grabs you and doesn't let go. Darryl Taylor's new CD is a collection of some twenty art songs that covers a wide range of expression and demonstrates just how versatile this singer can be with formidable powers of expression and a beautiful voice. This modern piece (Dreamer) demands of the singer an encyclopedic production of the vocal sounds found in spirituals, gospel music, blues, field hollers, and new age music and Darryl Taylor meets them all with no apparent strain or effort and with clear diction."
Artsong Update, Issue ..15
“Dreamer is unquestionably the finest recording of original songs by black composers available today. The singing of Darryl Taylor demonstrates a vocal beauty, musicianship, and interpretive sensitivity that is rarely equaled.”
Amazon.com
"Love Rejoices: Songs of H Leslie Adams...[is] a winner is every respect. Darryl Taylor is a joy to hear. He doesn't sound like anyone else…he sounds like Darryl Taylor. Here we can listen to these two American artists as they ought to be heard, and we cannot fail to be impressed."
John Boyer, American Record Guide
"Rarely does one hear a perfect match of singer, pianist, and repertoire. Love Rejoices, a new compact disk containing a rich assortment of the masterful songs composed by Leslie Adams has that magic. Darryl Taylor's rich voice and Ms. Guy's sensitive accompanying meld perfectly. Mr. Taylor knows how to change his timbre from warm and luxurious to moody and dark, from very rhythmic to liquid. This is a wonderful listening experience."
Lindsey Eck, Eserver Review
“(Darryl Taylor) offered an uncommonly splendid and spiritual evening…(he) delighted us with a truly exciting recital 'among friends.' ”
ABC, Barcelona, SPAIN
“(Darryl Taylor) not only has a beautiful voice, but moreover possesses a full range of expressive resources which he uses naturally. These qualities he has used in singing in the best concert halls of the world.”
Nova Tàrrega, SPAIN