Daniel Taylor
Countertenor, founder and artistic director of TEM
Biography

An exclusive recording artist for Sony Classical Masterworks, Daniel Taylor is one of the most sought-after countertenors in the world. Daniel appears on more than 80 recordings which include Bach Cantatas/Monteverdi Choir/Gardiner (for Deutsche Grammophone Archiv and SDG); Renaissance duets with Bowman /Actor Ralph Fiennes (BIS); Handel’s Rinaldo with Bartoli /AAM/Hogwood (DECCA); Cantatas ‘Before Bach’ with Collegium Vocale /Herrewege (Harmonia Mundi); Sakamoto’s pop-opera ‘Life’ with the Dalai Lama and Salman Rushdie (SONY); Bach Cantatas with Bach Collegium Japan (BIS) and Handel’s Messiah with the Kammerchor Stuttgart for Carus.

Daniel’s debut at Glyndebourne in Handel’s Theodora (recorded for Erato) followed on his operatic debut in Jonathan Miller’s production of Handel’s Rodelinda (for EMI). He took the title role in Gluck’s Orfeo at the Edinburgh Festival. His North American operatic debut was in Handel’s Cesare at the Metropolitan Opera, New York. 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, Toronto, Gothenburg, Rotterdam, Montreal); recital (Vienna Konzerthaus, Frick Collection, New York, Forbidden Concert Hall, Beijing, Lufthansa Baroque Festival and Wigmore Hall, London) and film (Podeswa’s Five Senses for Fineline - winner at Cannes and also of a Genie).

Daniel Taylor is recognized as "Canada’s star countertenor" and "Canada’s most prolific recording artist". Highlights of past engagements include Handel’s Israel in Egypt at the BBC Proms with the Monteverdi Choir/English Baroque Soloists/Gardiner; a CD/DVD of the Bach B minor Mass/Ensemble Orchestral de Paris/ Nelson (for EMI); Handel’s Messiah with San Francisco Symphony/Christophers; Handel’s Rinaldo with the Academy of Ancient Music/Hogwood (with Bartoli for DECCA); Handel Israel in Egypt with the Cleveland Orchestra/McGegan; Messiah with the St. Louis Symphony/Christophers; Orff Carmina Burana with the Toronto Symphony/Oundjan; Bach Christmas Oratorio with the National Arts Centre/Pinnock; Handel’s Rinaldo at the Munich Opera/Bickett; Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms with the Philadelphia Orchestra/Dutoit; Handel’s Saul with Bachakademie Stuttgart/ Rilling (for Hänssler Classics); Buxtehude Cantatas with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra/Koopman (for Channel Classics); Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Taiwan National Symphony/Grossman (for KOCH); Renaissance duets with James Bowman and the Actor Ralph Fiennes (for BIS) and Schnittke’s Faust Cantata with the Rotterdam Philharmonic/Gergiev. Daniel also sang at a North American Indian Pow-Wow in Alberta and on Parliament Hill for Queen Elizabeth and the Prime Minister of Canada. He appeared on German Television for the Prime Minister of Germany, on Spanish Television for the Queen of Spain and in a recital for the King and Queen of Sweden. Upcoming recordings include Handel’s Jephtha/McCreesh with the Gabrieli Consort for Deutsche Gramophone Archiv, Vivaldi’s Stabat Mater for BIS, as well as a new recital disc for Sony Classical Masterworks.

In 2009, Daniel makes his debuts with the Israel Philharmonic, the Madrid National Orchestra, the San Diego Symphony and the Nashville Symphony. He returns to the St. Louis Orchestra, to Boston’s Handel & Haydn Society, to the Calgary Philharmonic and to the Quebec Symphony. Daniel also makes his solo recital debuts in Barcelona at the Palau de la Musica, at Wigmore Hall, London and with the New York Philharmonic.

Daniel is Professor of Voice at the Conservatoire de musique in Montreal, Professor of Voice at the University of Ottawa, an Adjunct Professor at McGill University, a Visiting Scholar at the University of Victoria and Artist-in-Residence at Banff Centre for the Performing Arts. Daniel is Artistic Director and Conductor of the Choir and Orchestra of the Theatre of Early Music. The Theatre of Early Music performs more than 30 concerts every year in concert halls all over the world.

 Top