Music - singing, playing, listening, composing and arranging, teaching, accompanying, conducting, reviewing - seems as much a part of me as my pulse.
I am classically trained, but keep my ears open to all kinds of good music. Have a bachelor's in Secondary Music Education, and a Masters in Music Theory/Composition.
Latest News
2010-08-13 "He's Gone Away" (Arr. of traditional folk song) made FIVE top-ten lists on Broadjam.
General
Wallace Taylor was born in Fairbanks, Alaska in 1956, and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. He the father of six children.
In his youth, and before graduating from Brigham Young University, Mr. Taylor studied piano under Charlotte Taylor, Sarah MacDonald, Marguerite Rourke, James Ruccolo, Margaret Van Orman, and Marlene Bachelder. He studied voice under Ray Arbizu and composition under David Sargent.
He received a Bachelor of Music degree (magna cum laude) from BYU in 1981(Secondary Choral Education with keyboard emphasis).
He taught choral music and orchestra for five years, first at Miami High School (Miami, AZ) and then at Prescott High School (Prescott, AZ). He produced and directed The Wizard of Oz, the first full scale musical theater production in Miami High School's history.
As a graduate student at Arizona State University, he studied composition under Chinary Ung and Randall Shinn. He was awarded assistantships, teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in ear training, sight singing, theory and analysis, an introduction to music for non-majors, and assisting with the development of supplemental courseware (software) for music history.
He received a Master of Music degree from Arizona State University in 1989 (Theory and Composition, with composition concentration).
Mr. Taylor was the coach/accompanist for two opera companies in their premier seasons: Opera West (Orem, Utah) in 1982, and Opera del Sol (Chandler, Arizona) in 1990. He performed the accompaniments for Puccini's Tosca and Il Tabarro, and Menotti's The Telephone. In 1991, he was the musical director for the Gilbert Fine Arts production of West Side Story. His master's thesis was a composition: three acts of a chamber opera Rapunzel (with libretto by Kay Gaffney).
He provided coaching and piano accompaniment for Mesquite High School's production of the musical Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. The same school premiered his piece, "The Red Cockatoo" for SATB chorus and piano.
Over the years, he has maintained a private studio for voice, piano and theory students (offering a theory survival-course for graduate students in education). While employed as a systems administrator, he continued to teach privately and has served as a church choir director and organist. He has been requested to provide numerous works for church music including hymn arrangements, anthems, and instrumental works.