Lyndon Johnston Taylor
1961 -
Lyndon Johnston Taylor is
soloist and principal second violin with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, a
position he first held in 1997. Previous to this appointment, he had taught
violin at La Sierra University, served as concertmaster of the Redlands and
Riverside symphony orchestras, and played violin in the LAP, before becoming
principal of the second violins. From 2007 to 2011, he served as Assistant Concertmaster
for the New Zealand Symphony and then rejoined the LAP in his former position
upon his return to the U.S.
Lyndon is the youngest of
four children of Morris and Elaine Myers Taylor. Raised in a well-known musical family, he and
his siblings started lessons on piano and a string instrument at an early age.
Although active as a performing musician, Elaine made her role as mother the
priority in her life. She nurtured her children both spiritually and musically,
sparing no effort to be the best parent and teacher possible.
That dedication, with support
and assistance from their father, created an atmosphere in the home where the
children's musical gifts flourished. The children, who practiced a string
instrument and piano daily for an hour each and rehearsed for a third hour as a
string quartet, achieved at a remarkable level.
For several years, beginning
in 1965, the precocious playing of the children and the excellence of their
work as a string quartet stunned audiences and music critics alike. The Palo
Alto Times described the response to the Taylor String Quartet, following a
performance of the family for the annual conference of the Music Teachers'
Association of California in 1971: "When 300 music teachers rise to give a
performing group a standing ovation, the players can be sure they have received
quite a tribute."
The quartet toured in the
U.S., Europe, Poland, and Russia, playing in famous venues, at over fifty
colleges and universities, and on national radio and TV in Great Britain,
Sweden, and Norway to great acclaim. In 1975, while on tour in Europe with the
New England Youth Ensemble, the quartet was invited at the last minute and
without prior notice to play for a banquet in Poland being held during a visit
by President Gerald Ford with the Polish Premier. Even though they did not have their music,
they and a NEYE harpist performed for two hours from memory during the meal and
were each thanked personally at the end of the meal by Ford.
In the late 1970s Elaine took
a three-week tour with her children, traveling as The Taylor String Quartet,
from California to Texas, to Mexico, and then to Washington, D.C. At the University of Monterey, the audience
responded to their concert with a prolonged standing ovation, shouts of bravo,
and a cascade of flowers on the stage. This would be the last tour the group
made with their mother, who died in a car accident in 1978.
Even though he was an
unusually gifted and promising violinist, Lyndon enrolled at Atlantic Union
College as a pre-med student and graduated in 1982 with a B.S. in chemistry.
Midway through medical school, where he was pursuing graduate study in medicine
and cell biology with the intent of doing medical research, he got a music
teaching position as director of string studies at the University of Redlands
which renewed his interest in music. He subsequently completed an M.Mus. in violin performance at California State University,
Northridge, in 1985 and a D.M.A. in violin in1990 at the Juilliard School of
Music, where he studied with legendary teacher Dorothy Delay and was the
recipient of the Fritz Kreisler Scholarship.
Taylor had accepted a
deferred appointment in the music department at La Sierra University in 1989
and joined the faculty as director of string studies in 1992. On a whim, he had
auditioned for an opening in the second violin section of the LAP in 1990 and
won. When the principal chair of the second section opened in 1997, he
successfully auditioned for it. In that position he played on the
"Perkins" Stradivarius violin, one of three owned by the orchestra.
Throughout his career, Taylor
has given countless recitals, soloed with numerous orchestras, and been active
as a chamber music player on his violin in groups other than the Taylor
quartet. He also plays viola and has performed on the instrument as a soloist
and in chamber music and at one point was a candidate to be principal violist
with the San Francisco Symphony.
He has received numerous
awards and honors, including the Coleman Chamber Music Award, The Civic
Orchestra of Chicago Soloist Auditions Award, The Joseph Fischoff
National Competition Award, the Lipzer International
Competition in Italy, and the 2000 Adventist Alumni Achievement Award for the
Arts. The last award, which included $2,500 to be given to the Adventist school
of the recipient’s choosing, was given to La Sierra University,where Taylor has
taught. Taylor and his wife, Elizabeth Johnston, then decided to give a like
amount to each of the six Adventist schools he had attended from elementary
through graduate school.
ds/2013
Sources:
Biography at the Los Angeles Philharmonic website; La Sierra Today: Spring 1995, 22; Winter 1992, 20; and
Spring/Summer 1997, 22. LSU music department Hole Notes, Winter, 2001, 6; IAMA Notes, Spring 2001, 18; Atlantic
Union Gleaner, 11 December 1973, 5; Dorothy Minchin-Com and Virginia-Gene
Rittenhouse, Encore!, Pacific Press
Publishing Association, 1984, 66; personal knowledge.