Taylor Stayton, a native of Sidney, Ohio, made his professional operatic debut in 2010 at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma as Fenton in a new Franco Zeffirelli production of Falstaff, alongside the Falstaff of Renato Bruson and the Ford of Carlos Alvarez, conducted by Asher Fisch. Later that season, he made his American operatic debut as Osiride in Rossini’s Mosé in Egitto with Chicago Opera Theater under Leonardo Vordoni.
Mr. Stayton won acclaim when he made a last-minute Metropolitan Opera debut as Percy in Anna Bolena, where he is also covering the role of Tonio in La fille du régiment. Later this season, he joines the New York City Opera for the role of Andre le Toneur in Rufus Wainwright’s Prima Donna.
Recently the 26-year-old tenor has been heard as Ernesto in Don Pasquale with Des Moines Metro Opera, Tybalt in Roméo et Juliette with Opera Company of Philadelphia and Don Alvar in L’Africaine with Opera Orchestra of New York.
Future engagements include Don Ramiro in La cenerentola with the Glyndebourne Festival Opera, and Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Opéra de Lille.
Taylor is a 2011 graduate of The Academy of Vocal Arts, as a student of the renowned voice teacher Bill Schuman. At AVA he sang the roles of Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Lord Percy in Anna Bolena, Ferrando in Così fan tutte, Ernesto in Don Pasquale, Fenton in Falstaff, and Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor.
Mr. Stayton has won several prestigious vocal competitions, including First Prize in the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation International Voice Competition, 2009, and third place in the Loren B. Zachary Voice Competition, 2009.
Mr. Stayton earned his Bachelor of Music at Ohio State University. While in the Martina Arroyo Foundation’s “Prelude to Performance” program, he performed the roles of Ernesto in Don Pasquale and Ferrando in Così fan tutte. The New York Times commented that Mr. Stayton “exudes good health and promise” and the New York Daily News, after noting that he “did an astonishing job with the elegant ‘Un aura amorosa’” went on to say: "For such a young tenor to be so accomplished the nuances of Mozart is astonishing.” His other operatic roles include Nerone in L’incoronazione di Poppea and Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore.
