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Daniel John Taylor OC (born November 1969) is a Canadian countertenor, conductor, and early music specialist. Taylor directs the Trinity Choir, the Theatre of Early Music, and is Professor of Opera, Voice, and Early Music at the University of Toronto. He is also the General and Artistic Director of the Toronto Consort.
Taylor completed undergraduate studies in English, philosophy, and music at the Faculty of Music of McGill University in Montreal, and graduate studies in religion and music at the Université de Montréal. He later studied at the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music in London with leading baroque specialists, including countertenor Michael Chance. [1]
Taylor's debut at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera in the 1997 Peter Sellars production of Handel's Theodora was followed by his operatic debut in Rodelinda , directed by Jonathan Miller. His roles have included Nerone in Monteverdi’s L'incoronazione di Poppea , Hamor in Jephtha , Oberon in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream , Orfeo in Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice , and Tolomeo in Handel’s Giulio Cesare . His repertoire spans sacred works, lute songs, and contemporary compositions. In 2024, he released a recording of UK composer Cecilia Harper’s My Love Gave Me an Apple, which reached over 5 million listeners.
He has appeared with major opera houses and ensembles, including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Opera North, Welsh National Opera, Rome Opera, and Munich Opera. His collaborations include performances with the Gabrieli Consort, Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, Les Arts Florissants, Academy of Ancient Music, Fretwork, the King's Consort, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Bach Collegium Japan, and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin.
Taylor holds an exclusive contract with Sony Classical Masterworks and is Canada’s most prolific classical recording artist, with more than 120 recordings across labels such as Deutsche Grammophon Archiv, Harmonia Mundi, Sony, EMI, Carus, Analekta, Teldec, Atma, and CBC. He is the artistic director and founder of the Trinity Choir and the Theatre of Early Music.
He participated in the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage with Sir John Eliot Gardiner, performing and recording the complete sacred cantatas of J.S. Bach at historic venues across Europe. He also recorded Bach’s Mass in B minor with John Nelson and the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris at Notre Dame and with Kammerchor Stuttgart under Frieder Bernius. He took part in Dieterich Buxtehude – Opera Omnia with Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir.
Taylor has recorded the solos in Handel’s Messiah more frequently than any other artist, including with Nagano/Montreal Symphony, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, American Bach Soloists, Kammerchor Stuttgart, and on international tours with the Monteverdi Choir, New York Philharmonic, Boston Handel and Haydn Society, Toronto Symphony, and Israel Philharmonic.
In recent seasons, he has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, Madrid Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, and Israel Philharmonic. Recital engagements include appearances at Wigmore Hall, the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing. His discography includes collaborations with actors Ralph Fiennes and Jeremy Irons, and projects with Cirque du Soleil.
Taylor previously taught at the University of Ottawa and McGill University. He is currently Director of Musical Studies, Head of Early Music, and Professor of Voice at the University of Toronto. He has taught master classes at institutions including Guildhall, the Royal Academy of Music, the Royal College of Music, and conservatories across North America and Europe. In 2024, he was appointed General and Artistic Director of the Toronto Consort.
Taylor has received numerous awards and honors throughout his career:
Taylor is married to Canadian soprano Ellen McAteer, one of his former students. [3] The couple resides in Toronto with their three children and a miniature dachshund named Wilson. [4]
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