Taylor Festival Choir & Robert Taylor
Biographie Taylor Festival Choir & Robert Taylor
The Taylor Festival Choir (TFC)
is a professional chamber choir based in Charleston, SC. Founded and conducted by Robert Taylor, the choir is inspired by the life and career of Bob Taylor, the conductor’s late father and a noted choral musician and pedagogue. Since its inception in 2001, the Taylor Festival Choir has toured and been heard in prestigious venues and festivals throughout the U.S., and has garnered a reputation of excellence among critics and choral specialists alike. TFC was one of only two American adult chamber choirs featured at the prestigious 2009 American Choral Directors Association National Convention and 50th anniversary celebration.
They currently record with MSR Classics, and their most recent release Sing We Now of Christmas, recorded with legendary guest artists including Liz Carroll, John Doyle and Kim Robertson, has been called “a choral feast that will linger long in your memory after you’ve heard it” (Audio Society of Atlanta). Their current recording project features BBC composer of the year James MacMillan’s Mass, as well as the world premier recording of Celtic Mass by Michael McGlynn. TFC is part of the Taylor Music Group, and serves as the professional choir-in-residence at the College of Charleston. It presents a full concert season in the Charleston area, and serves as the flagship ensemble for the Piccolo Spoleto Celtic Arts Series.
Personnel in the ensemble represent conductors, educators, performers and professionals from states throughout the U.S. The Taylor Festival Choir performs the finest choral literature from all eras, with particular emphasis on new music and folk music from the Celtic nations. Dedicated to bringing the beauty and spiritual enrichment of choral music to as wide an audience as possible, the Taylor Festival Choir tours frequently, and performs outreach concerts in schools and churches throughout South Carolina and surrounding states. TFC recently toured Ireland with sister ensemble Na Fidleiri in 2013. A one-hour DVD of their performances will soon be produced.
Dr. Robert Taylor
is the Director of Choral Activities at the College of Charleston, the Founding Artistic Director and President of the Taylor Festival Choir (TFC) and Taylor Music Group (TMG), and the Director of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra Chorus and Chamber Singers. Called a “rising star in the international choral scene” and a "true master of his craft" (Charleston City Paper), Taylor’s choirs have been described as sounding "more musical than would seem possible" (Charleston Post and Courier), and have received numerous plaudits from critics and choral specialists for their technical proficiency, musicality and beautiful sound production. Taylor's ensembles have performed throughout the United States and Europe. They have been featured in numerous festivals, conventions and special concerts, including the 2005 and 2009 American Choral Directors (ACDA) National Conventions, the 2008 and 2011 National Collegiate Choral Organization National Conventions, and multiple appearances in regional and state ACDA and AGO conventions. Most recently, Taylor and his combined choirs performed with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra in a feature concert in the 2013 National Collegiate Choral Organization National Convention. Taylor's groups also appear annually in the prestigious Spoleto Festival U.S.A. and Piccolo Spoleto Festival.
Dr. Taylor's professional ensemble, the Taylor Festival Choir (TFC), has been hailed by critics and choral specialists alike as being one of the nation's finest. Performing a full season of concerts in the Charleston area, TFC also has toured throughout the USA and Ireland and has recorded with Centaur Records and MSR Classics. His upcoming release with TFC will be the world premiere recording of Celtic Mass by Michael McGlynn, alongside Mass by James MacMillan.
Taylor has conducted more than 30 major choral/orchestral works to critical acclaim, his interpretations of modern works and the works of Ralph Vaughan Williams being especially praised. His recording of Vaughan Williams' Epithalamion and An Oxford Elegy was hailed as "a highly accomplished performance," one in which "his forces capture [Vaughan Williams' score's] ebb and flow perfectly" (American Record Guide). With the CSO Chorus, he has prepared numerous choral/orchestral masterworks for performances with prestigious conductors such as the late David Stahl, Dr. Joseph Flummerfelt, Louis Solemno, Stuart Molina, Dr. Kenneth Fulton, Dr. Joe Miller, and JoAnn Faletta. As Director of Choral Activities at the College of Charleston, Dr. Taylor oversees all choral studies and endeavors, including leading the acclaimed Concert Choir, the Madrigal Singers, and directing the choral strand of the College of Charleston's Master of Arts in Teaching in the Performing Arts degree. He serves as editor of the Robert Taylor Choral Series with Colla Voce Publications. Along with his wife, violinist/Irish fiddler Mary Taylor, Taylor coordinates the Celtic Arts Series (formerly the Taylor Music Festival) in Piccolo Spoleto: a series of concerts and workshops emphasizing musical education and performance in both classical and Celtic/folk disciplines. Deeply involved in Piccolo Spoleto and with the Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs, Taylor was recently awarded the Piccolo Spoleto Lifetime Achievement Award.
