Benjamin Taylor    |  home Biography   |   Events   |   Catalog   |   Links   |   Photo Gallery Events Performance:  Trombone Quintet Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Orchestra Dr. Richard Loheyde, Conductor Benjamin Taylor, Guest Conductor Sunday, November 15, 2009 3:00pm www.santarosasymphony.com Jackson Theater, Sonoma Country Day School Santa Rosa, CA As guest conductor, Benjamin Taylor leads members of the Santa Rosa Symphony's outstanding Youth Orchestra, just returned from their European Tour, in his Trombone Quintet, an exciting showcase for the shiny, slide-y brass instruments. At turns vigorous, reposed, playful and sardonic, this short musical adventure has something for everyone! The Youth Orchestra will also perform works by Stravinsky, Beethoven, Smetana and Mason Bates. Performance:  Trombone Quintet Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Orchestra Dr. Richard Loheyde, Conductor Benjamin Taylor, Guest Conductor Saturday, October 3, 2009 5:00pm Santa Rosa Plaza, Santa Rosa, CA As guest conductor, Benjamin Taylor leads members of the Santa Rosa Symphony's outstanding Youth Orchestra in a guerilla performance of his his Trombone Quintet, in conjunction with Arts Sonoma 09 Festival. The piece is an exciting showcase for the shiny, slide-y brass instruments. At turns vigorous, reposed, playful and sardonic, this short musical adventure has something for everyone! The entire Youth Orchestra, just returned from a European Tour, has some delightfully unusual offerings in addition! Performance:  Om nama Shiva Edgerton High School Choir Jesse Chandler-Dreher, Music Director May 28, 2009 Edgerton Performing Arts Center Edgerton, Wisconsin World Premiere:  Locus iste Combined Choirs of Bay Area Unitarian-Universalist Churches Benjamin Taylor, Conductor Saturday, April 4, 2009 8pm Unitarian-Universalist Church of Berkeley Performance Christmas Eve at UUCSR Benjamin Taylor, Music Director December 24, 2008 6:00pm Glaser Center Santa Rosa, CA As music director of the Unitarian-Universalist Congregation of Santa Rosa, Benjamin Taylor joins the Rev. Chris Bell in bringing out a Christmas Eve service of beautiful music and sentiment, with music selections and stories both new and familiar. Come enjoy the choir and sing along with the UUCSR folk fiddle band. Wisconsin Premiere:  Om nama Shiva Festival Choir of Madison Drew Collins, Music Director October 18, 2008 7:30pm First United Methodist Church Madison, Wisconsin Performance Benefit Concert for Unitarian-Universalist Congregation of Santa Rosaus Saturday, September 27, 2008 8:00pm Glaser Center Santa Rosa, CA As music director of the Unitarian-Universalist Congregation of Santa Rosa, Ben takes a supporting role in this concert by the extraordinary Nancy Hayashibara.  Nancy and her many friends offer a fun mix of styles on the program.  Ben takes a quick spin through a selection from Bach's cello suites, in a rare interpretation on the bass guitar. Performance:  Three Japanese Love Lyrics San Francisco Choral Artists Magen Solomon, Artistic Director www.sfca.org Special FREE Preview Concert! Sunday, February 10, 2008 2pm Glaser Center 547 Mendocino Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA February 28-March 2, 2008, Los Angeles, CA March 30, 2008, Palo Alto, CA April 5, 2008, San Francisco, CA April 6, 2008, Oakland, CA The brilliant San Francisco Choral Artists go on tour, featuring music by SF Bay Area composers.  Their Los Angeles program at the American Choral Directors Association regional conference includes Benjamin Taylor's settings of Japanese love poems.  At once sonically rich and emotionally introspective, this music continually overflows with sensual imagery.  You can also hear this beautiful work and the entirety of the SFCA's exciting program in the SF Bay Area. Performance Christmas Eve at UUCSR Benjamin Taylor, Music Director December 24, 2007 6:00pm Glaser Center Santa Rosa, CA As music director of the Unitarian-Universalist Congregation of Santa Rosa, Benjamin Taylor joins the Rev. Chris Bell in bringing out a Christmas Eve service of beautiful music and sentiment, with music selections and stories both new and familiar. Come enjoy the choir and chamber orchestra, sing carols and feel good! Composition Seminar Recital Santa Rosa Symphony Summer Music Academy Theory & Composition Seminar Recital Benjamin Taylor, Director Saturday, July 14, 2007 5:30pm Jackson Theater, Sonoma Country Day School 4400 Day School Place, Santa Rosa, CA Students of Benjamin Taylor's summer seminars will present their new musical works in a free public recital as part of the Santa Rosa Symphony's Summer Music Academy. Performance Albany Community Chorusus Benjamin Taylor, Music Director Tuesday, June 5, 2007 8:00pm Albany United Methodist Church Albany, CA As music director of the Albany Community Chorus, Benjamin Taylor leads a diverse program exploring the variety of the human cry from cradle to grave.  Featuring soloists from throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, this program offers a broad palatte of vocal style and musical mood. Adjudication William Barclay Voice Scholarship Competition Wednesday, April 25, 2007 Santa Rosa High School, Santa Rosa, CA Kira Nikiforuk, Director of Choral Studies Performance:  Environment Mariella Castaldi, narrator Kevin Gonyo, trombone Benjamin Taylor, piano Saturday, March 31, 2007 Glaser Center, Santa Rosa, CA The west coast premiere of these evocative and introspective musical atmospheres, featuring poetry by the composer interwoven with other poets' works to create a metaphor of the natural world as the inner world of the contemplative soul. Performance Santa Rosa Symphony Discovery Orchestra William R. Williams, Conductor Benjamin Taylor, Guest Conductor Saturday, February 3, 2007 7:30pm Jackson Theater, Sonoma Country Day School Santa Rosa, CA As guest conductor, Benjamin Taylor leads the Santa Rosa Symphony's Discovery Orchestra in the rarely heard Courtly Dances from Gloriana by Benjamin Britten.  The dances alternate equal measures of bouyant verve, dense pathos and frenetic activity, all enveloped in a neo-Elizabethan sheen. Performance:  Bodega Cemetery Sonoma County Chamber Singers Robert Hazelrigg, Music Director Sunday, November 19, 2006 www.sonomacountychambersingers.org A repeat performance of Benjamin Taylor's tender and touching work on the poem of former Sonoma County Poet Laureate, Don Emblen.  The Sonoma County Chamber Singers premiered this work, accompanied by a photographic presentation, to great local anticipation in 2004, during Benjamin Taylor's residency with the choir. Performance:  Bodega Cemetery Sonoma County Chamber Singers Robert Hazelrigg, Music Director October 27, 28 & 29, 2006 www.sonomacountychambersingers.org A repeat performance of Benjamin Taylor's tender and touching work on the poem of former Sonoma County Poet Laureate, Don Emblen.  With an originating inspiration in the work of Sonoma County photographer, John LeBaron, this musical project also spawned a new photo essay by another photographer, Ellya Hoex.  The Sonoma County Chamber Singers premiered this work, accompanied by a photographic presentation, to great local anticipation in 2004, during Benjamin Taylor's residency with the choir.  This is your chance to hear this lovely work yet again! Performance Albany Community Chorus Benjamin Taylor, Music Director Tuesday, October 14, 2006 8:00pm Albany United Methodist Church Albany, CA Benjamin Taylor's directorship of the Albany Community Chorus continues with a program of spirituals from various traditions that all connect to the American musical landscape.  Featured composers include Rachmaninoff and Sir Michael Tippett, in addition to the West Coast premiere of Psalm 23 by Joseph Knapicius. Radio Interview:  The Choir Loft Sunday, July 30, 2006 11:00am KRCB 90.9FM or 91.1FM Santa Rosa, CA www.sonoma-choral.org Benjamin Taylor has served as the Composer in Residence for the Sonoma County Chamber Singers, and has worked with outstanding vocal ensembles from across the U.S.A. as both composer and conductor.  Hear a discusion with host Anthony Martin on a variety of topics relating to vocal music today. Composition Seminar Recital Santa Rosa Symphony Summer Music Academy Theory & Composition Seminar Recital Benjamin Taylor, Director featuring Triste sin Richard Saturday, July 29, 2006 afternoon tba Ives Hall, Sonoma State University Rohnert Park, CA www.santarosasymphony.com Students of Benjamin Taylor's summer seminar will present their new musical works in a free public recital as part of Sonoma State University's Greenfarm Festival.  The performing ensemble, Triste sin Richard, is the consumate string band in the Sonoma County classical-indie underground.  They are known for their strong classical training and innovative artistry. Performance:  In splendoribus sanctorum (in the splendor of the saints) Schola Cantorum of the Immaculate Conception Frederick Lautzenheiser, Music Director Friday, July 23, 2006 3:00pm Church of the Immaculate Conception Superior Ave at East 43rd St Cleveland, OH A concert of Latin and English liturgical music by composers of Cleveland (and formerly of Cleveland), performed by the Schola Cantorum of Immaculate Conception, under the baton of composer/guest conductor, Michael Leese.  Benjamin Taylor's In splendoribus sanctorum is a quiet and meditative Christmas work that explores that utilizes the structure of an originating Gregorian chant.  This work was written for and premiered by Immaculate Conception in a Midnight Mass, Christmas, 2004. World Premiere: Sospiros, lagrimas, y amor (sighs, tears, and love) Princeton Singers Steven Sametz, Artistic Director Friday, June 30, 2006 8:00pm Baker Hall, Zoellner Arts Center Bethlehem, PA World premiere performance by acclaimed professional ensemble, the Princeton Singers, under the direction of world-renowned composer/conductor, Stephen Sametz.  This latest choral work by Benjamin Taylor is an evocative and emotionally gripping interpretation of a love poem by 19-century Spanish poet, Gustavo Adolfo Becquer. Performance Albany Community Chorus Benjamin Taylor, Music Director Tuesday, May 23, 2006 7:30pm Albany United Methodist Church Albany, CA As music director of the Albany Community Chorus, Benjamin Taylor offers up a program of delightfully varied repertoire from Rennaisance to the present.  The program features portions of the Brahms Requiem, as well as works by Faure, Ravenscroft, 18th-century American popular songs, and recent works. Adjudication William Barclay Voice Scholarship Competition Thursday, April 27, 2006 Santa Rosa High School, Santa Rosa, CA Kira Nikiforuk, Director of Choral Studies Performance:  Cabafrescozonbaldi Carson Cooman, organ Sunday, April 23, 2006 Trinity Cathedral, Pittsburgh, PA Composer and organist, Carson Cooman, performs in worship service Benjamin Taylor's short fantasy rooted in the influence of Rennaisance composers Cabezon and Frescobaldi. World Premiere: Three Japanese Love Lyrics San Francisco Choral Artists Magen Solomon, Artistic Director March 25, 2006, Palo Alto, CA April 1, 2006, San Francisco, CA April 2, 2006, Oakland, CA World premiere performance by groundbreaking vocal ensemble, the San Francisco Choral Artists, under the outstanding direction of conductor, Magen Solomon.  These three short settings by Benjamin Taylor on Japanese love poems are sonically rich and emotionally introspective, while at the same time continually overflowing with sensual imagery. 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