Composer | ReSident Artist

DEL’SHAWN TAYLOR

Del'Shawn Taylor is an award-winning musician, children’s book author, and arts equity advocate. As a baritone, he has earned awards from competitions including the American Prize, the NATS National Musical Theatre Competition, and the Metropolitan International Music Festival. He has made solo debuts on stages both nationally and internationally, such as Lincoln Center, Chicago Symphony Center, and the Musical Eisteddfod in Wales. In January 2023, he premiered the role of George in Tim Hick's and Kendra Leonard’s opera Water Rising.

As a composer, Del'Shawn has had his works premiered by numerous organizations and ensembles, including the Cincinnati Song Initiative, Julius Quartet, Wyoming New Music Festival, Operation Opera Festival, Source Song Festival, and Babεl. He was one of ten Black composers selected for the inaugural NATS Composer Mentoring Program in 2020. In March 2023, his first opera, Cook Shack, with librettist Samiya Bashir, premiered with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis' inaugural New Works Collective cohort. In June 2024, Experiments in Opera premiered Serial Killers in the City, a commissioned new opera between Del'Shawn and librettist Joanie Brittingham, as part of their Writers’ Room series. Currently, he is working with director and librettist Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj on a musical adaptation of his play, "I, Too, Sing America," to be workshopped in Fall 2024.

As an arts equity advocate and children’s book author, Del’Shawn works passionately with community arts organizations to ensure children, regardless of socio-economic background, have access to the transformative power of the arts. He released his first children’s book, “Do You Know What Makes a Man,” in 2020 and is currently working on his second children’s book. Del’Shawn is currently a board member of Art Song Colorado and Inside the Orchestra and has previously served on the DEI committees of the South Bend Symphony Orchestra and Thompson Street Opera Company.

In Development/Current Commissions:

  • I, Too, Am America, a musical based on play by Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj for 6 singers, piano, and band.

    Composed with librettist Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj. First workshop at SUNY Geneseo, Fall 2024