James Taylor (tenor)
Encyclopedia
James Taylor is an American tenor, known for singing the Evangelist
in works of Johann Sebastian Bach
.
. He continued his studies on a Fulbright
scholarship at the Hochschule für Musik in Munich with Adalbert Kraus
and Daphne Evangelatos.
He has internationally appeared in Bach's cantatas
and oratorios. He recorded the Easter Oratorio
in 1994 with the Collegium Vocale Gent and Philippe Herreweghe
. With the Gächinger Kantorei
and Helmuth Rilling
he recorded the St John Passion in 1996, and the Christmas Oratorio
in 2000. He sang in Bach’s Mass in B minor in Bamberg
with Sir Roger Norrington
, and in Haydn’s Orlando Paladino
with Nikolaus Harnoncourt
. In his first appearance with the New York Philharmonic
under Kurt Masur
in Carnegie Hall
in 2008 he was the Evangelist in the St Matthew Passion, singing with Matthias Goerne
and Anna Larsson
, among aothers. The review stated: "Above all, tying the story together, was James Taylor (no, not that James Taylor
) as the Evangelist. Yes, his voice was radiant and resounding. More important was his dramatic turn of phrase, his moods from the extreme to the beatific, as he told – through a recitative which verged on aria – the story.".
His debut in Carnegie Hall
was in 2005 the world premiere of the Levine
completion of Mozart's Great Mass in C minor with the Carnegie Hall Festival Chorus and the Orchestra of St. Luke's
conducted by Helmuth Rilling
. He performed Franz Schmidt's The Book with Seven Seals with the Cleveland Orchestra
.
In 2008 he recorded Britten's War Requiem
with Annette Dasch
, Christian Gerhaher
and the Festivalensemble Stuttgart under Rilling. The concert was performed at the Rheingau Musik Festival
, the Musikfest of the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart
and at the Beethovenfest in Bonn
.
In 2009 he appeared with the Gächinger Kantorei
and the New York Philharmonic under Helmuth Rilling in Avery Fisher Hall
in Handel's Messiah
in 2009, reviewed in the New York Times: "The tenor James Taylor performed with conviction and plenty of bite. ".
Since 2005 James Taylor teaches at the Yale University
.
Evangelist (Bach)
The Evangelist in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach is the tenor part in his oratorios and Passions who narrates the exact words of the Bible, translated by Martin Luther, in recitative, namely in the works St John Passion, St Matthew Passion, and the Christmas Oratorio, also in the St Mark...
in works of Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
.
Biography
James Taylor grew up in Houston. He studied singing with Arden Hopkin at the Texas Christian UniversityTexas Christian University
Texas Christian University is a private, coeducational university located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States and founded in 1873. TCU is affiliated with, but not governed by, the Disciples of Christ...
. He continued his studies on a Fulbright
Fulbright Program
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright-Hays Program, is a program of competitive, merit-based grants for international educational exchange for students, scholars, teachers, professionals, scientists and artists, founded by United States Senator J. William Fulbright in 1946. Under the...
scholarship at the Hochschule für Musik in Munich with Adalbert Kraus
Adalbert Kraus
Adalbert Kraus is a German tenor in opera and concert, known for singing the works of Johann Sebastian Bach.- Biography :...
and Daphne Evangelatos.
He has internationally appeared in Bach's cantatas
Bach cantata
Bach cantata became a term for a cantata of the German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach who was a prolific writer of the genre. Although many of his works are lost, around 200 cantatas survived....
and oratorios. He recorded the Easter Oratorio
Easter Oratorio
The Easter Oratorio , BWV 249, is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach, Kommt, eilet und laufet , first performed in Leipzig in 1725.- History :...
in 1994 with the Collegium Vocale Gent and Philippe Herreweghe
Philippe Herreweghe
Philippe Herreweghe is a Flemish conductor.In his school years at the University of Ghent, Herreweghe combined studies in medical science and psychiatry with a musical education at the Ghent Conservatory, where Marcel Gazelle, Yehudi Menuhin's accompanist, was his piano teacher...
. With the Gächinger Kantorei
Gächinger Kantorei
Gächinger Kantorei is an internationally known German mixed choir, founded by Helmuth Rilling in 1954 in Gächingen and still conducted by him. A "Kantorei" is a choir of high standard dedicated mostly, but not exclusively, to sacred music. The ensemble operates in Stuttgart now and is therefore...
and Helmuth Rilling
Helmuth Rilling
Helmuth Rilling is an internationally known German choral conductor, founder of the Gächinger Kantorei , the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart , the Oregon Bach Festival , the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart and other Bach Academies worldwide, and the "Festival Ensemble Stuttgart"...
he recorded the St John Passion in 1996, and the Christmas Oratorio
Christmas Oratorio
The Christmas Oratorio BWV 248, is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It was written for the Christmas season of 1734 incorporating music from earlier compositions, including three secular cantatas written during 1733 and 1734 and a...
in 2000. He sang in Bach’s Mass in B minor in Bamberg
Bamberg
Bamberg is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in Upper Franconia on the river Regnitz, close to its confluence with the river Main. Bamberg is one of the few cities in Germany that was not destroyed by World War II bombings because of a nearby Artillery Factory that prevented planes from...
with Sir Roger Norrington
Roger Norrington
Sir Roger Arthur Carver Norrington, CBE is a British conductor. He is the son of Sir Arthur Norrington and his brother is Humphrey Thomas Norrington....
, and in Haydn’s Orlando Paladino
Orlando paladino
Orlando paladino , Hob. 28/11, is an opera in three acts by Joseph Haydn which was first performed at Eszterháza on 6 December 1782. The libretto by Nunziano Porta is based on another libretto, Le pazzie d'Orlando, by Carlo Francesco Badini , itself inspired by Ariosto's epic poem Orlando furioso...
with Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Nikolaus Harnoncourt is an Austrian conductor, particularly known for his historically informed performances of music from the Classical era and earlier. Starting out as a classical cellist, he founded his own period instrument ensemble in the 1950s, and became a pioneer of the Early Music movement...
. In his first appearance with the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
under Kurt Masur
Kurt Masur
Kurt Masur is a German conductor, particularly noted for his interpretation of German Romantic music.- Biography :Masur was born in Brieg, Lower Silesia, Germany and studied piano, composition and conducting in Leipzig, Saxony. Masur has been married three times...
in Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
in 2008 he was the Evangelist in the St Matthew Passion, singing with Matthias Goerne
Matthias Goerne
Matthias Goerne is a German baritone.Born in Weimar, he studied with Hans-Joachim Beyer, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf....
and Anna Larsson
Anna Larsson
Anna Larsson is a Swedish contralto. Her international debut was made with the Berlin Philharmonic and the conductor Claudio Abbado in a performance of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 in 1997...
, among aothers. The review stated: "Above all, tying the story together, was James Taylor (no, not that James Taylor
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
) as the Evangelist. Yes, his voice was radiant and resounding. More important was his dramatic turn of phrase, his moods from the extreme to the beatific, as he told – through a recitative which verged on aria – the story.".
His debut in Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
was in 2005 the world premiere of the Levine
Robert D. Levin
Robert D. Levin is a classical performer, musicologist, and composer, and is the Artistic Director of the Sarasota Music Festival.-Education:...
completion of Mozart's Great Mass in C minor with the Carnegie Hall Festival Chorus and the Orchestra of St. Luke's
Orchestra of St. Luke's
The Orchestra of St. Luke's is an American chamber orchestra based in New York City.It was founded in the summer of 1979 at the Caramoor International Music Festival in Katonah, New York....
conducted by Helmuth Rilling
Helmuth Rilling
Helmuth Rilling is an internationally known German choral conductor, founder of the Gächinger Kantorei , the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart , the Oregon Bach Festival , the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart and other Bach Academies worldwide, and the "Festival Ensemble Stuttgart"...
. He performed Franz Schmidt's The Book with Seven Seals with the Cleveland Orchestra
Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1918, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Severance Hall...
.
In 2008 he recorded Britten's War Requiem
War Requiem
The War Requiem, Op. 66 is a large-scale, non-liturgical setting of the Requiem Mass composed by Benjamin Britten mostly in 1961 and completed January 1962. Interspersed with the traditional Latin texts, in telling juxtaposition, are settings of Wilfred Owen poems...
with Annette Dasch
Annette Dasch
Annette Dasch is a German soprano. She performs in operas and concerts.- Biography :Annette Dasch studied voice at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München with Josef Loibl....
, Christian Gerhaher
Christian Gerhaher
Christian Gerhaher is a German baritone and bass singer in opera, concert and notably Lied.- Biography :Christian Gerhaher studied with Paul Kuen and Raimund Grumbach at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München, and Lied with Friedemann Berger, already together with his accompanist for decades...
and the Festivalensemble Stuttgart under Rilling. The concert was performed at the Rheingau Musik Festival
Rheingau Musik Festival
The Rheingau Musik Festival is an international summer music festival in Germany, founded in 1987. It is mostly for classical music, but includes other genres...
, the Musikfest of the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart
Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart
Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart is a foundation in Stuttgart, founded by Helmuth Rilling in 1981 to foster international concerts and workshops, namely Musikfest Stuttgart, dedicated especially to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach in relation to present day composition.-Musikfest...
and at the Beethovenfest in Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
.
In 2009 he appeared with the Gächinger Kantorei
Gächinger Kantorei
Gächinger Kantorei is an internationally known German mixed choir, founded by Helmuth Rilling in 1954 in Gächingen and still conducted by him. A "Kantorei" is a choir of high standard dedicated mostly, but not exclusively, to sacred music. The ensemble operates in Stuttgart now and is therefore...
and the New York Philharmonic under Helmuth Rilling in Avery Fisher Hall
Avery Fisher Hall
Avery Fisher Hall is a concert hall, in New York City and is part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts complex. It is the home of the New York Philharmonic, with a capacity of 2,738 seats.-History:...
in Handel's Messiah
Messiah (Handel)
Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742, and received its London premiere nearly a year later...
in 2009, reviewed in the New York Times: "The tenor James Taylor performed with conviction and plenty of bite. ".
Since 2005 James Taylor teaches at the Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
.
Selected recordings
- Bach: Easter OratorioEaster OratorioThe Easter Oratorio , BWV 249, is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach, Kommt, eilet und laufet , first performed in Leipzig in 1725.- History :...
, Barbara SchlickBarbara SchlickBarbara Schlick is a German soprano who is particularly admired for interpretations of the concert literature of the baroque era.-Career:...
, Kai WesselKai WesselKai Wessel is a German countertenor and a teacher at the Hochschule für Musik Köln.- Professional career :Kai Wessel started singing in school choirs and as a boy soprano at the Christus-Kirche of Hamburg-Wandsbek and received lessons on piano, organ and oboe...
, Peter KooyPeter KooyPeter Kooy is a Dutch bass singer specialized in baroque music.- Biography :Peter Kooy started his musical career at 6 years as a choir boy. However he started his musical studies as a violin student...
, Collegium Vocale Gent, conductor Philippe HerreweghePhilippe HerreweghePhilippe Herreweghe is a Flemish conductor.In his school years at the University of Ghent, Herreweghe combined studies in medical science and psychiatry with a musical education at the Ghent Conservatory, where Marcel Gazelle, Yehudi Menuhin's accompanist, was his piano teacher...
, Harmonia Mundi France, 1994 - Bach: Johannes-PassionJohannes PassionThe St John Passion , BWV 245, is a sacred oratorio of Johann Sebastian Bach from the Passions. The original Latin title Passio secundum Johannem translates to "The Suffering According to John" and is rendered in English also as St. John Passion and in German as Johannespassion...
, Michael SchadeMichael SchadeMichael Schade is a Canadian operatic tenor, who was born in Geneva and raised in Germany and Canada. He and his four children live in Oakville, Ontario; a city just outside of Toronto, Canada. The family has a second home in Vienna, Austria.Schade is considered a leading Mozart tenor...
, Matthias GoerneMatthias GoerneMatthias Goerne is a German baritone.Born in Weimar, he studied with Hans-Joachim Beyer, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf....
, Juliane BanseJuliane BanseJuliane Banse is a German soprano and noted lieder singer. She received her vocal training at the Zürich Opera, and with Brigitte Fassbaender in Munich. She won First Prize in the singing competition of the Kulturforum in Munich in 1989. In 1989, she made her operatic debut as Pamina in Mozart's...
, Ingeborg DanzIngeborg DanzIngeborg Danz is a German mezzo-soprano and alto concert singer.- Biography :Ingeborg Danz studied school music at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold and voice with Heiner Eckels...
, Andreas SchmidtAndreas Schmidt (baritone)Andreas Schmidt is a German classical bass-baritone in opera and concert.- Professional career :Andreas Schmidt studied church music with his father Hartmut Schmidt and singing with Ingeborg Reichelt and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.His 1984 debut was in the part of Malatesta in Donizetti's Don...
, Gächinger KantoreiGächinger KantoreiGächinger Kantorei is an internationally known German mixed choir, founded by Helmuth Rilling in 1954 in Gächingen and still conducted by him. A "Kantorei" is a choir of high standard dedicated mostly, but not exclusively, to sacred music. The ensemble operates in Stuttgart now and is therefore...
, Bach-Collegium StuttgartBach-Collegium StuttgartBach-Collegium Stuttgart is an internationally known German instrumental ensemble, founded by Helmuth Rilling in 1965 to accompany the Gächinger Kantorei in choral music with orchestra...
, Helmuth RillingHelmuth RillingHelmuth Rilling is an internationally known German choral conductor, founder of the Gächinger Kantorei , the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart , the Oregon Bach Festival , the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart and other Bach Academies worldwide, and the "Festival Ensemble Stuttgart"...
, Hänssler, 1996 - Haydn: Missa in AngustiisMissa in angustiisThe Missa in Angustiis or "Nelson Mass" , is one of fourteen masses written by Joseph Haydn. It is one of the six masses written near the end of his life which are now seen as a culmination of Haydn's liturgical composition.- Background :Haydn's chief biographer, H. C...
, Eva LindEva LindEva Lind is an Austrian operatic lyric coloratura soprano.- Life and career :Eva Lind was born on June 14th 1966 in Innsbruck, where she started singing as a teenager. While studying philosophy at the University of Vienna she continued her professional training as a singer...
, Ingeborg DanzIngeborg DanzIngeborg Danz is a German mezzo-soprano and alto concert singer.- Biography :Ingeborg Danz studied school music at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold and voice with Heiner Eckels...
, Reinhard Hagen, EuropaChorAkademie, SWR Symphony Orchestra, conductor: Michael GielenMichael Gielen-Professional career:Gielen was born in Dresden, Germany, to opera director Josef Gielen. Through his mother, Rose, he is the nephew of Eduard Steuermann and Salka Steuermann Viertel. He began his career as a pianist in Buenos Aires, where he studied with Erwin Leuchter and gave an early...
, 1999 http://www.europachorakademie.de/en/52hneuea.htm - Bach: Mass in B minor, Sibylla RubensSibylla Rubens- Biography :Sibylla Rubens studied voice at the Staatliche Musikhochschule in Trossingen and at the Hochschule für Musik in Frankfurt and in master classes with Edith Mathis....
, Juliane Banse, Ingeborg Danz, Andreas Schmidt, Thomas QuasthoffThomas QuasthoffThomas Quasthoff is a German bass-baritone. Although his reputation was initially based on his performance of Romantic lieder, Quasthoff has proven to have a remarkable range from the Baroque cantatas of Bach to solo jazz improvisations.-Biography:Quasthoff was born in Hildesheim, Germany, with...
, Gächinger Kantorei, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, Helmuth Rilling, Hänssler, 1999 (#46 on bach-cantatas) - Bach: Christmas OratorioChristmas OratorioThe Christmas Oratorio BWV 248, is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It was written for the Christmas season of 1734 incorporating music from earlier compositions, including three secular cantatas written during 1733 and 1734 and a...
, Sibylla Rubens, Ingeborg Danz, Marcus Ullman, Hanno Müller-Brachmann, Gächinger Kantorei, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, Helmuth Rilling, Hänssler, 2000 review
External links
- James Taylor on the Colbert Artists Management website
- James Taylor on the GasteigGasteigGasteig is a cultural center in Munich, opened in 1985, which hosts the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. The Richard Strauss Conservatory, the Volkshochschule, and the municipal library are all located in the Gasteig...
website - Entries for Bach recordings by James Taylor on WorldCatWorldCatWorldCat is a union catalog which itemizes the collections of 72,000 libraries in 170 countries and territories which participate in the Online Computer Library Center global cooperative...