Countertenor Darryl Taylor was our guest on Feburary 15th at California State University Long Beach. Continue Reading for the program and event photos. For more information on Dr. Tayor, please visit his website -http://www.DarrylTaylor.com

Dr. Darryl Taylor’s recital at Cal State Long Beach can be described with one word, PERFECTION. His masterful vocal skills and visual presentation met the highest standards in art music. The audience  greeted Dr. Taylor will some reservation during the first two selection by composers George Walker and Mark Fax. The next two selection by composer Howard Swanson began the gradual increase in appreciation and applause. During the next four selections by composer Robert Owens, the audience was fully aware of the significance of the evening with full appreciation of Dr, Taylor and Lukas Swidzinski (pianist).Dr. Tayor mentioned the third set of five songs were composed by H. Leslie Adams who received his masters at CSULB. During this set, the audience was completely engaged and displayed unrestrained appreciation and spirit.

The final set of three songs and the encore were Negro spirituals that provided a heighten climax and made a very clear point. The rich treasure of art songs by Black composers, when performed with perfection,are little known and neglected for reasons other than pure art.

Dr. Taylor shared brief comments about composer George Walker as first African American to receive Pulitzer Prize, the passing of Hale Smith who also should have won a Pulitzer Prize, the life of Robert Ownens, and several humorous international travel stories about ethnicity and Negro spirituals. Dr. Taylor’s concluding set of spirituals included arrangements by George Walker, Robert Morris and Jacqueline Hairston.

-John Malveaux’s review of the recital.

 

Out of the Margins

Darryl Taylor, countertenor
Lukas Swidzinski, piano

Darryl Taylor, countertenor sings a program of masterful selections by underappreciated African American composers. This lively program simultaneously emphasizes the legitimacy of African American song while embracing the countertenor voice, underscoring the relevance and vitality of the fach.