Ella Taylor, The Philharmonic Chorus of Tokyo, Future Orchestra Classics & Joe Hisaishi
Biographie Ella Taylor, The Philharmonic Chorus of Tokyo, Future Orchestra Classics & Joe Hisaishi
Ella Taylor
Described in the Guardian as having ‘a voice of tempered steel, wrapped in a warm velvet cloak’ Ella Taylor is a soprano with a passion for performing contemporary music and works by women and gender non-conforming artists. Winner of the Second Prize at the Kathleen Ferrier awards, they are a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music and the National Opera Studio.
Highlights in 2024/2025 include Komponist in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Staatsoper Hamburg and Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte for Nevill Holt Festival/Opera North. Concert work the Studio Ghibli Concert Tour Final with Joe Hisaishi and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Tokyo Dome and the Classic FM Hall of Fame with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, as well as recitals at the Oxford International Song Festival, SongEasel and the recital series ‘Song at Wolfson’.
Recent engagements have included The Activist in the première of Ellen Reid’s The Shell Trial for Dutch National Opera, as well as a return to The Royal Opera, London, as Fourth Maid Elektra. As a regular collaborator with Joe Hisaishi, they have performed Music from the Studio Ghibli Films of Hayao Miyazaki in arenas around Europe, as well as making their Tokyo debut last year performing Hisaishi’s The End of the World with Future Orchestra Classics at Suntory Hall. They have performed both Mahler Symphony No. 2 and Symphony No. 4 with the Philharmonia Orchestra (Bold Tendencies Festival) and Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra respectively. For the Bold Tendencies Festival they have also performed Górecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs.
Ella Taylor is a keen collaborator and recitalist, making a dedicated effort to work with and perform works by people underrepresented in classical music, as well as working with composers and librettists in the creation of new, LGBT+ focused work. They have given talks about navigating a career as a trans opera singer for various companies and magazines including the Royal Opera House Engender Festival, Place and Space: a TECHNE student-led conference, and Opera Now. A film with Trans Voices Choir (part of London Contemporary Voices) has been released on Guardian Films, which Ella is a founding member of. They were also a soloist at the inaugural Classical Pride at the Barbican.
Joe Hisaishi
a composer, conductor and pianist, has established himself as a formidable force in contemporary music, for his delicately crafted symphonic and solo works, as well as his globally successful film music. Hisaishi is greatly in demand as a conductor performing with the most notable symphony orchestras across the globe. With nearly 40 solo albums and over 100 film scores to his name, he is one of the most celebrated composers of our time.
Hisaishi’s recent symphony orchestra engagements have seen him conducting the Toronto and Chicago Symphony orchestras, Royal Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and Wiener Symphoniker. Alongside his film music works, he conducts classical repertoire from the likes of, Ravel, Reich, Mussorgsky, Brahms and Pärt, and his own symphonic compositions such as DA•MA•SHI•E and The East Land Symphony. Hisaishi also had a successful weeklong residency with Seattle Symphony Orchestra where he led three sold-out concerts, curated and conducted a chamber concert dedicated to contemporary music from his peers, and a panel discussion with young audience members. In the 2024/25 season, he debuts with San Francisco Symphony and Philadelphia Orchestras. After a successful debut at the Hollywood Bowl in 2023, Hisaishi returns to Los Angeles Philharmonic for the world premiere of his Harp Concerto, commissioned by the orchestra and performed by their own harpist, Emmanuel Ceysson.
A Deutsche Grammophon exclusive artist, Hisaishi has released the titles Merry-Go-Round of Life and A Symphonic Celebration, both of which are new arrangements that bring a fresh excitement to his Studio Ghibli masterpieces. His most recent recording, Joe Hisaishi in Vienna, features the world premiere recordings of two of his compositions – Symphony No.2 and Viola Saga with Wiener Symphoniker and soloist Antoine Tamestit.
As a passionate pioneer of contemporary music, Hisaishi collaborates with similarly experimental artists including Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner, Nadia Sirota, Phillip Glass, David Lang and Terry Reilly. Since 2014, he has been presenting his eponymous “MUSIC FUTURE” concerts in Tokyo, bringing together the works and talents of these notable collaborators. Volume 11 of the series enjoys an airing in Tokyo in summer 2024 and he has also previously travelled with the series to Carnegie Hall in New York in 2022 and Seattle in 2024. He holds Young Composer’s Competition every year to inspire and empower young composers, and the winning composition makes its world premiere at his MUSIC FUTURE concerts.
Hisaishi is the recipient of both the Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon, received in 2009, and The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, in 2023 by the government of Japan. Hisaishi is Music Partner with New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, and from 2021, Principal Guest Conductor with Japan Century Symphony Orchestra where he is Music Director designate from the 2025/26 season. Hisaishi was also appointed as Composer-in-Association of Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in April 2024.
