Meet our New Year's Eve Soloist, Mezzo-Soprano Taylor Hillary Boykins

Taylor Hillary Boykins is an American mezzo soprano hailing from Michigan who boasts a robust performance schedule in the DC Metro area. Playful yet eloquent, Taylor’s melodic style, delicate phrasing, and powerful voice have gained her notable recognition. Suffice it to say, if you’ve ever heard the phrase, “big things come in small packages,” then you have an idea of what you’ll get once you meet— and hear— Taylor Hillary Boykins.

To kick off the ‘23-‘24 season, Taylor will be returning to St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church as one of the soloists for Bach’s beloved B Minor Mass. She’ll also be debuting with D.C.-based ensemble, Third Practice, for Lesson & Carols, and she’ll be bringing in the new year— literally— on a high note, making her debut with the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, singing a few opera and holiday classics!

During spring and summer of 2023, Taylor performed with Opera Baltimore, Northern Neck Orchestra as alto soloist in Too Hot to Handel under the baton of recent Grammy winner, Michael Repper, and continued her tour with the brilliant Lorelei Ensemble for the World Premiere of Julia Wolfe’s, Her Story, with San Francisco Symphony and later, Boston Symphony Orchestra at the Tanglewood Music Festival. In fall of 2022, she had a role debut with Annapolis Opera for their production of Kurt Weill’s Lost in the Stars, as Mrs. Mkize. Taylor also made her first few appearances with the Lorelei Ensemble for the Wolfe, as well as two performances of Holst’s, The Planets, with Boston Symphony Orchestra.

In spring of 2022, Taylor had the privilege of recording underrepresented, musical works for the launch of The Peabody Insitute’s record label, Peabody Premieres. Songs are now available for streaming on bandcamp and will be archived in Peabody’s Arthur Friedheim Library. After several seasons of solo work with the group, Taylor was happy to be featured again for the Maryland Choral Society’s 50th Anniversary Gala, in Prince George’s County, MD.

During fall of 2021, Taylor performed in the World Premiere of Josh Armenta’s, Remember the Things they Told Us, with Maryland Choral Society, and was grateful to debut the role of Mrs. Nolan with Opera Baltimore’s season opener, The Medium.

As an operatic mezzo, Taylor has performed noteworthy roles including Mrs. Roché in Tony Small’s eco-conscious musical, RUKA (Kennedy Center Debut), Alexis in the world premiere of Tony Small’s operetta Qadar (Kennedy Center) with opera luminary Denyce Graves as Artistic Director, and Soeur Mathilde in Dialogues des Carmelites, produced by the Peabody Opera Theatre at the Modell Lyric Opera House in Baltimore. Taylor has also earned the accolades of national finalist in The American Prize Competition for the Friedrich and Virginia Schorr Memorial Award in Voice: Women in Opera, and finalist for the 2018 Chicago Oratorio Award.

Notable recital and solo appearances include mezzo soloist in a recital with Aaron Thacker (bass, piano) at the Hedgelawn Classical Series at The Mainstay, featured soloist in a recital with Thrive Music Live, alto soloist in Duruflé’s Requiem with St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, alto soloist in Michael Tippett’s A Child of Our Time with the Gonzaga University University Concert Choir (West Coast Debut), alto soloist in Gustav Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, with Symphony Number One, soloist in recital held at the Waterford Foundation in Virginia, and performed An Evening of Opera; a lecture recital covering opera, art song, and a history of black opera singers hosted at the University of Toledo.

As a lover of choral music and large-scale productions, Taylor has had extensive experience performing in major choral works and renowned operas over the past decade. Recent chorus performances include Madama Butterfly with the Opera Baltimore, Tosca with Annapolis Opera, STINNEY, a new work by Frances Pollock (World Premier), and Dan Deacon Pulse show with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Taylor also performs regularly with notable local companies including Maryland Choral Society, Concert Artists of Baltimore, Maryland Opera. In addition to building her classical repertoire, Taylor actively participates in concerts with Baltimore-based chamber groups, such as Mind On Fire. 

Taylor earned her Master of Music degree in vocal performance from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, where she was a protégé of mezzo soprano Denyce Graves. Prior to that, she received her Bachelor of Music degree from Oakland University in Rochester, MI as a student of contralto, Nadine Washington.