Daniel Taylor (countertenor)

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Daniel Taylor (born November 1969) is a renowned Canadian countertenor.

He completed his undergraduate studies in English, philosophy and music at McGill University (Montreal) and his graduate work in religion and music at the Université de Montréal, furthering his studies with the leaders of Britain's baroque specialist groups. He continues now with Michael Chance.

Daniel Taylor's Glyndebourne debut in the 1997 Peter Sellars's production of Händel's Theodora was greeted with critical praise and followed on an equally successful operatic debut in the Jonathan Miller production of Händel's Rodelinda (recorded for EMI). His other operatic roles have included Nerone in Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea, Eustazio and Gottfredo in Händel's Rinaldo, Athamas in Händel’s Semele, and Tolomeo in Händel's Giulio Cesare. In addition to opera, Taylor's repertory includes a wide range of sacred works, lute songs, and contemporary works such as Bernstein's Chichester Psalms and Sakamoto's Life.

Daniel Taylor receives invitations from a large 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 and Munich), oratorio (Gabrieli Consort, Monteverdi Choir/English Baroque Soloists, Bach Collegium Japan, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Les Arts Florissants, Berlin Academie fur Alte Musik, Collegium vocale de Ghent, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, King's Consort, Academy of Ancient Music), symphonic works (Dallas, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Toronto, 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). Chamber music also features prominently in his calendar and he regularly joins forces with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Fretwork and the King's Consort.

Daniel Taylor has made more than 60 recordings, which include Bach Cantatas with the Monteverdi Choir and John Eliot Gardiner, Renaissance duets with James Bowman, Handel’s Rinaldo with Cecilia Bartoli and the Academy of Ancient Music with Christopher Hogwood, Theodora with Les Arts Florisants and William Christie, Cantatas 'Before Bach' with Collegium Vocale de Ghent and Philippe Herreweghe, Sakamoto's pop-opera Life with the Dalai Lama, Lost Objects with 'Bang on a Can' and Bach Cantatas with the Bach Collegium Japan. Upcoming recordings include a CD/DVD at Maitrise Notre-Dame in Paris of the Mass in B Minor by J. S. Bach with John Nelson and L'ensemble Orchestral de Paris (for EMI) and Handel's Jephtha with Paul McCreesh and the Gabrieli Consort for Deutsche Gramophone Archiv.