SHORT-FORM BIOGRAPHY

John Taylor Ward performs with “stylish abandon” (The New Yorker), “intense clarity and color” (New York Times), “finely calibrated precision and heartrending expressivity” (Washington Post). A native of Boone, North Carolina, Taylor grew up in a musical family – mostly bluegrass and Broadway. Before pursuing opera and early music studies at the Eastman and Yale Schools of Music, he spent his early years living a double life as both a sought-after musical theater actor and an Anglican boy treble. Taylor’s “lithe, louche, and admirably game” approach to the repertoire (Opera News) has yielded recent acclaimed debuts at Spoleto USA in the premier of Unholy Wars; Mexico’s Compañía Nacional de Teatro, starring in Iannis Xenakis’ Oresteia; and Vienna’s Musikverein as Jesus in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. Notable DVD releases include the role of Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress with Barbara Hannigan, Proteo in Orfeo Chaman with Christina Pluhar and L’Arpeggiata, and an upcoming documentary series on the life and works of Claudio Monteverdi with the English Baroque Soloists. Taylor is the founding artistic director of the Lakes Area Music Festival of Minnesota. He is a laureate of the Jardin des voix and a member of the two-time Grammy winning ensemble, Roomful of Teeth.

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BY JIYANG CHEN