Michael Taylor

Acclaimed in the press for his “great virtuosity” and “vocal radiance”, Canadian countertenor Michael Taylor picked up his first instrument - the violin - at age three; despite an enthusiasm for Bach’s solo partitas, he soon discovered his instrument of choice when he began his vocal training as a treble with St. Michael’s Choir School at age nine. After a brief intermission in which he completed a degree in Physics and Neuroscience at McGill University, Michael took up further vocal studies in Germany, and went on to win numerous international singing competitions, including grants from the Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation and the Canada Council for the Arts.
Highlights on stage include L’Orontea at the Hamburg State Opera, Rinaldo in Mainz, Luci mie traditrici in Kiev, A Midsummernight’s Dream in Norfolk, Phaedra and Sosarme in Halle, L’Elpidia with Opera Settecento, Handel’s Messiah with the Grammy-Nominated Trinity Choir in New York and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in Berlin, Osaka and Montreal. Performances with the Bande Montreal Baroque include several Bach cantatas and the world-premiere of Althea, the opera Bach never wrote, created by Bruce Haynes and Susie Napper.