Michael Taylor

Acclaimed in the press for his “radiant power and emotion” (The Telegraph) and “sheer seductive beauty” (Gramophone Magazine), Canadian countertenor Michael Taylor began singing as a treble at St. Michael’s Choir School in Toronto, where he also studied the violin and piano at the Royal Conservatory of Music. After graduating with a degree in Physics and Neuroscience from McGill University, he took up further vocal studies in Montreal with a focus on Early Music. Michael subsequently came to Germany to pursue a specialisation in opera performance with Prof. KS Jeanne Piland as well as with several of Europe’s most talented Early Music specialists, including Andreas Scholl, Sara Mingardo and Michael Hofstetter. He is a prize-winner of the International Voice Competition Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg in Germany and the Gürel International Singing Competition in Istanbul, as well as a grant-holder of the Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation for Young Canadian Opera Singers.

Michael made his debut at the Lincoln Center in New York as a soloist in Handel’s MESSIAH, in London’s Cadogan Hall in the title role of Hasse’s DEMETRIO with Opera Settecento, and in Izumi Hall Osaka as a soloist in Bach’s ST. MATTHEW PASSION; he has performed on opera stages around the world with renowned companies such as the Hamburg State Opera, Opera Atelier Toronto, Lucerne Opera, Mainz State Opera, Halle Opera and the Venice Biennale. Highlights of his wide-ranging operatic repertoire include Goffredo (RINALDO), Tolomeo (GIULIO CESARE), Corindo (L’ORONTEA), Pisandro (IL RITORNO D’ULISSE IN PATRIA), Orfeo (ORFE ED EURIDICE), Artemis (PHAEDRA), L’Ospite (LUCI MIE TRADITRICI), Prince Go-Go (LE GRAND MACABRE) and Oberon (A MIDSUMMERNIGHT’S DREAM). Michael’s most recent album “Cantates pour Luther” featuring Bach’s Reformation Cantatas, is now available on the ATMA Classique Label worldwide.