Justin Taylor

Franco-American harpsichordist Justin Taylor entered the international scene at the age of 23 by winning the prestigious and much-coveted International Musica Antiqua Competition in Bruges in 2015. He also won the Audience Prize, the Alpha Prize, and the EUBO Developing Trust Prize awarded to the most promising young European musician. The same year, he founded Le Consort with violinists Sophie de Bardonnèche and Théotime Langlois de Swarte, dedicated to the trio sonata genre.

In 2017 Justin was nominated in the Young Soloist category at the French Victoires de la musique and was awarded the Musical Revelation of the Year Prize by the Professional Critics Association. Justin is a frequent guest at such venues and festivals as the Philharmonie de Paris, BOZAR Brussels, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Kölner Philharmonie, LSO St Luke’s London for the BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Series, KKL Luzern, De Bijloke Gent, L’Auditori de Barcelona, Auditorio Nacional Madrid, Auditorium du Louvre Paris, Washington DC’s Library of Congress, Oji Hall Tokyo, Seoul Arts Center, La Roque d’Anthéron International Festival, Innsbrucker Festwochen, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Rheingau Musik Festival, Festival de Saint-Denis, Radio France Montpellier Festival, Sintra festival, Festival de Saintes. He has also performed as a soloist with Concerto Köln, the Orchestre National de Lille, Orchestre National d’Île-de-France, Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, Orchestre de Chambre de Genève, Orchestre de Picardie, Mannheimer Philharmoniker and Duisburger Philharmoniker.  

Upcoming highlights include a tour in North America with recitals in Montreal (Salle Bourgie), Washington DC for Capriccio Baroque and Philadelphia’s Ravensong, concerts at the Köln Philharmonie, Rheingau and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern festivals with Le Consort, a performance with William Christie and Jordi Savall at the Philharmonie de Paris, a Vivaldi weekend at Radio France (following the success of the Bach harpsichord concertos series in 2020) and a solo recital at the Valetta Baroque Festival in Malta, to name just a few.  

At the young age, Justin Taylor already has a comprehensive discography on ALPHA Classics with a recent addition of the internationally praised album La Famille Rameau (Choc de l’année from “Classica” magazine, E by “Scherzo Magazine”), an echo to his first solo disc, La Famille Forqueray: Portrait(s) which received international acclaim and was awarded a Gramophone Editor’s Choice and a Choc de l’année from “Classica” magazine. His second solo album Continuum is devoted to Scarlatti and Ligeti. As gifted on fortepiano as harpsichord, Justin has recorded Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 17 K. 453. In 2018, he recorded a double album for Deutsche Grammophon’s BACH 333 project. With Le Consort, Justin recorded four albums on ALPHA Classics: Venez, chère Ombre and Royal Handel, both with mezzo soprano Eva Zaïcik, OPUS 1 (Diapason d’Or) and Specchio veneziano (2021) with works by Reali and Vivaldi.  

Ever since childhood Justin Taylor has played both the piano and the harpsichord with passion, and studied in Angers and Paris, at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris with Roger Muraro, Olivier Baumont and Blandine Rannou.