CONDUCTORS

With an extensive repertoire ranging from the medieval period to the twenty-first century, James Taylor devotes much of his career to oratorio and concert literature. As one of the most sought after Bach tenors of his generation, he has performed and recorded extensively with many of the world’s preeminent Bach specialists, such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Philippe Herreweghe, René Jacobs, Ton Koopman, Hans-Christoph Rademann, and Masaaki Suzuki. From their first concert together in 1993, to the time of his retirement, James maintained a close relationship with conductor, Helmuth Rilling and the International Bach-Academy Stuttgart, performing and teaching master classes worldwide. On several occasions, he has been a juror and consultant for the International Bach-Competition Leipzig. In 2008, he debuted with the New York Philharmonic, under the direction of Kurt Masur, singing four performances as the Evangelist in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. As an oratorio specialist, James Taylor’s career has taken him throughout the United States, South America, Japan, Korea, Israel, and to virtually all the major orchestras and concert halls of Europe. He has performed with conductors such as Blomstedt, von Dohnányi, Graf, Harding, Järvi, Labadie, Nézet-Séguin, Norrington, Tovey, Welser-Möst, and Zuckerman.  

EDUCATION

After graduating from Texas Christian University in 1991, with an all-level Bachelor of Music Education, James received a Fulbright Scholarship to study at the Hochschule für Musik, in Munich, Germany, with tenor, Adalbert Kraus, receiving his “Meisterklassendiplom” in 1993. After just one year in Munich, he joined the Opera Studio of the Bavarian State Opera, where he worked with the great American soprano, Astrid Varnay. With the Opera Studio, he toured Bavaria in roles, such as, “Ferrando,” “Almaviva,” “Tito,” and “Don Basilio,” while singing comprimario roles in the Munich Staatsoper. His opera career took him to Stuttgart, Innsbruck, Schwetzingen, Strasbourg, Brussels, Lyon, Toulouse, Boston, Berlin, Vienna, Lissabon, and Toronto, but early on, his focus shifted almost entirely to concert literature.

REPERTOIRE

Mainstays of Mr. Taylor’s repertoire include all the large scale works of Bach, and as many as 80 of his cantatas. He has sung an estimated 200 performances of the B-minor Mass, alone.  Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Saint Paul, and Hymn of Praise,  and Haydn’s great oratorios, The Creation and The Seasons are also among his most performed pieces, as well as Handel’s oratorios such as Messiah, Jephtha, Israel in Egypt, L’Allegro and La Resurezione. Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis remains one of Mr. Taylor’s favorite choral works, and he feels particularly proud to have recorded and performed Britten’s War Requiem numerous times, though perhaps the most poignant performance was for the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the end of WWII, in the Munich Residence. 

RECITALS

Regular recitals round out James Taylor’s repertoire. Traditional recital programs have included titles like, “Love and Separation,” songs of Beethoven, Schubert and Schuman; “A Schubertiade,” songs of Schubert, Haydn and Beethoven; and "Miroirs Brûlants,” featuring the mélodies of French greats, like Debussy, Fauré, Boulanger and Poulenc. He recently sang the Winterreise, with fortepiano specialist, David Breitman, and has performed a variety of programs with fortepianist, Christoph Hammer. A particular interest in the lute song repertoire has led to recitals with Jakob Lindberg, Stephen Stubbs, Paul O'Dette, and Nigel North. He also uses his recitals to delve into unfamiliar territory, performing in recitals of medieval music, English viol consort songs, or music of the French Baroque. With his husband and fellow tenor, Thomas Cooley, he programmed, “A doi tenori,” duets and arias by Monteverdi and his contemporaries. Recently he performed an autobiographical, self-moderated program, entitled "Songs from My Mother's Piano Bench" with the pianist Ted Taylor.  James has recorded songs of John Duke, and Haydn’s Scottish and Welsh Folk Songs with his longtime pianist and friend, Donald Sulzen. Along with Franz Josef Selig, Christian Elsner, and Michael Volle, James Taylor was a founding member of the men’s quartet, “Liedertafel,” which can be heard on a CD by the same name, on the Orfeo label.

RECORDINGS

Over the past 30 years, James Taylor has recorded extensively for a wide variety of recording labels. His artistry has been documented on no fewer than forty professional CD and DVD recordings for labels such as Sony, Hänssler, harmonia mundi, and Naxos; and through numerous television and radio broadcasts in the United States, Canada and abroad. For Hänssler, under the direction of Helmuth Rilling, he has recorded Dvorak's Stabat Mater, Bach's Christmas Oratorio, Magnificat, St. John Passion; and Handel’s Messiah, just to name a few. On the Harmonia Mundi label, he has recorded Bach’s Easter Oratorio, Beethoven's Missa Solemnis and Mendelssohn's Paulus, under Philippe Herreweghe, and the secular Bach cantatas, “Herkules auf dem Scheidewege,” and “Der Streit zwischen Phoebus and Pan,” with René Jacobs. Other releases include Britten’s War Requiem, with Helmuth Rilling, for Hänssler; the Mozart Requiem, with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, led by Andreas Delfs, on Limestone Records; Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, with the Nashville Symphony, on the Naxos label; the rarely heard Baroque opera, Ariadne, by Johan Georg Conradi, with the Boston Early Music Festival, led by Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs, on ArkivMusik; and on DVD, Haydn’s Seasons, with Enoch zu Guttenberg and the KlangVerwaltung. Mr. Taylor recently recorded Bruhns Cantatas in Yale’s Marquand Chapel, with Maestro Masaaki Suzuki playing the Taylor and Boody meantone organ.

TEACHING

James Taylor began his teaching career as Professor of Voice at the Hochschule für Musik, in Augsburg, Germany. He joined the faculty of Yale University in 2005 and serves as head of the voice program in Early Music, Art Song and Oratorio. In 2014, he was promoted to Professor in the Practice of Voice. His 30+ years professional experience and 21 years as a professor of voice, make James a highly prized docent. Prof. Taylor regularly teaches master classes in the U.S. and abroad. Now in it's17th year, the success of the voice program he oversees at Yale University and the Institute of Sacred Music is undisputed. Teaching has become his primary focus and his true passion.