Noted for the beauty of her voice and realistic interpretation of a wide range of repertoire, soprano Marilyn Taylor has received accolades for her performances of music ranging from the Baroque to the avant-garde.  A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Ms Taylor received her undergraduate degrees from the University of Louisville before completing her doctoral studies at Indiana University, Bloomington, where she studied with Virginia Zeani, Nicola Rossi-Lemeni, Giorgio Tozzi and coach Gary Arvin. Beginning her professional opera career as Artist-in-Residence with Kentucky Opera, she earned further accolades for roles with Des Moines Metro Opera, Dayton Opera, Nashville Opera, Lyric Opera Kansas City, Piedmont Opera, and Chattanooga Opera. Concert repertoire ranges from baroque to the avant-garde both abroad (Bonn Orchestra, the Flanneries Musicales d’été de Reims, Alba Music Festival, Prague Chamber Orchestra) and at home (the National Gallery in Washington; Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall; the Winston-Salem Symphony, Toledo Symphony, Louisville Orchestra; shared billing with Florence Henderson and John Denver at the opening of the Riverpark Center in Owensboro, Kentucky.)

The NY Times praised her performances of Mahler and Monteverdi with conductor Dennis Russell Davies at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and in Germany she was lauded as a “figure commanding respect and attention” for her performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. Also an avid fan of contemporary music, she has collaborated with composers William Bolcom, Warren Benson, John Harbison, Robert Ward, Kenneth Frazelle, and others. Her solo CD Return: Art Songs from Carolina (Albany) received critical acclaim in several reviews.  She has also recorded with Koch, G. Schirmer, and South Carolina Educational Television, where she filmed the role of Alida in Robert Ward’s Roman Fever.

Taylor was the recipient of an award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Regional Auditions, as well as a generous career grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women, and a George London Grant, awarded to singers “demonstrating a full range of singing, acting, and musical talent.” 

Ms. Taylor joined the artist faculty of the North Carolina School of the Arts in 1992 at the recommendation of Piedmont Opera’s founder, Norman Johnson, and serves here as Chair of the Voice Department. It is her pleasure to see former students performing with the Metropolitan Opera, the Spoleto Festival, Zurich Opera, Hamburg Opera, Santa Fe Opera, the Juilliard School, and elsewhere throughout the world.  She is currently the teacher of the noted American tenor, Anthony Dean Griffey.

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