Artistic Tutor: Voice

Ellen Taylor Sisson, soprano, has been praised by critics for her “warm, full tone” conveying “depths of meaning.” She has appeared as soloist with The Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields, the American Classical Orchestra, the Richmond Symphony, the Stamford Symphony, the Ridgefield Symphony, and the Danbury Symphony, as well as with numerous churches and choral societies.

She has sung with a number of professional New York-based choral ensembles, including Voices of Ascension, Musica Sacra, the New York Virtuoso Singers, the New York Choral Artists, the New York Concert Singers, and the Bard Festival Chorale. With these groups, she has recorded on the Deutsche Grammaphon, Delos, RCA, New World Records,Catalyst, and Naxos (Grammy-nominated) labels.She has also sung in choruses with many of the world’s leading orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Montreal Symphony, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. She toured Israel with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under Maestros Zubin Mehta and Riccardo Muti and has performed at the Salzburg, Verbier, Aldeburgh, Lincoln Center and Bard Music Festivals.

Ellen has sung for performances of the New York City Ballet, the American Ballet Theatre, the Jose Limon Dance Company and Mark Morris Dance Group. Other choral performances of interest include singing backup for Andrea Bocelli on The Late Show with David Letterman, with Garrison Keillor on A Prairie Home Companion, with Dave Brubeck at Carnegie Hall, and in the U.S. premieres of Danny Elfman’s Serenada Schizophrana and Sir Paul McCartney’s Standing Stone, also at Carnegie Hall with the composers in attendance..

In the world of opera, Ellen performed in Philip Glass’ White Raven at Lincoln Center and in numerous operas at Bard Summerscape including Dvorak’s Dimitri, Rubinstein’s Demon, Korngold’s Das Wunder der Heliane, Chausson’s Le Roi Arthus, Saint-Saens’ Henri VIII, and Meyerbeer’s Le Prophete. She sang the role of Belinda in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with the American Classical Orchestra.

Roles from the realm of musical theatre include Laurey in Oklahoma!, the Queen in Cinderella and Sister Margaretta in The Sound of Music.

Ellen has been pleased to teach at the Performing Arts Conservatory of New Canaan since its founding. It has been so exciting to see students develop and flourish! She continues to perform in New York and has positions with several churches and temples in the area.​