(804)615-9770
TAYLOR
JAMES
JAMES TAYLOR, TENOR
James Taylor, M.M. (Yale University), is an internationally celebrated performer. At home in opera, concert, recital, and musical theatre, he has appeared with numerous opera companies, symphonies, and theatres, including the New York City Opera, San Francisco Opera, Opera Carolina, Göttigen Handel Festspiele, Theatre Augsburg, and the Nederlandse
James Taylor, M.M. (Yale University), is an internationally celebrated performer. At home in opera, concert, recital, and musical theatre, he has appeared with numerous opera companies, symphonies, and theatres, including the New York City Opera, San Francisco Opera, Opera Carolina, Göttigen Handel Festspiele, Theatre Augsburg, and the Nederlandse
Reisopera. He has given recitals in the US, Europe, and Asia, and has appeared in leading roles in musicals.
In his earlier roles as a baritone, Mr. Taylor performed the title roles in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Le Nozze di Figaro, Marcello in La Boheme, as well as thirty-three others. As a tenor, his performances have included Siegmund in Die Walküre, the title role in Lohengrin and Parsifal, Don Jose in Carmen, Manrico in Il Trovatore, Cavaradossi in Tosca, and Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly. His many concert performances include Hándel's Messiah, Bach's Magnificat, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, and Mozart's Requiem.
An avid recitalist, Mr. Taylor has presented programs in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Breda, and Groningen in the Netherlands, Munich, Augsburg, and Dusseldorf in Germany, Klagenfurt, Linz, and Vienna in
Austria, and Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, as well as several universities and colleges across the United States. Along with the late composer Glenn Roven, he has premiered Schubert’s Winterreise in a singable English translation, and will premiere the last cycle they worked on together, Brahms’ Die Schöne Magelone, in a singable English Translation in 2021 in Richmond, VA.
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Among his numerous awards, Mr. Taylor was the winner of the Metropolitan Opera District Auditions for Connecticut and Alabama and was a finalist in the International Belvedere/Hans Gabor Competition, the Dutch International Vocal Competition, and the Lieder Competition of the International Johannes Brahms Competition. In addition, Mr. Taylor was invited to participate in the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.
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A talented and sought-after educator, he has served as Director of Opera at Drake University and the University of Alabama and has been on the music faculties of VCU and the University of Virginia. His students have gone on to such prestigious schools as the New England Conservatory, Juilliard, Manhattan School of Music, Yale University, and the Royal College of Music. Several of his students perform regularly with the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Semperoper, Glyndebourne, the Opera Comique, Utah Opera, Central City Opera, Landestheater Niederbayern, and the Oldenburgisches Staatsoper.
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Mr. Taylor has had the pleasure to work with many of the top Artist Teachers in the business, such as Sherrill Milnes, Richard Cross, Doris Yarick-Cross, Jackson Sheats, Andrew Gainey, and Seth Riggs. He has also participated in Master Classes with Placido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes, and Regine Crespin.
Mr. Taylor resides in Bon Air, Virginia, with his wife Sheridan and their two daughters Virginia and Meg.
