L.A. Philharmonic Violinist to Perform at Howard

Lyndon Johnston Taylor returns home to Berrien Springs for Vivaldi concert

Andrews University welcomes home violinist Lyndon Johnston Taylor, principal second violinist in the Los Angeles Philharmonic, live in concert on Sunday, January 24, at 4 p.m., in the Howard Performing Arts Center on the campus of Andrews University. Taylor will perform with the Andrews University Sinfonietta, conducted by Claudio Gonzalez. Tickets are $6 general admission; $4 for seniors and students; children under 12 are free. The orchestra will perform Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” with Taylor as soloist.

Taylor comes from a family of musical excellence who lived locally in Berrien Springs. While his parents, music professors at Andrews University at the time, performed as duo pianists, Taylor and his siblings presented concerts as the Taylor String Quartet, performing around the U.S. and abroad, including concerts at over 50 colleges and universities and on national radio and TV in the U.K., Sweden and Norway.

While attending Andrews Academy on the campus of Andrews University, Taylor received training from America’s top string quartets. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Atlantic Union College in Massachusetts, then began medical school at Loma Linda University in California, studying cell biology in preparation for a career in medical research. During his first year at LLU he also commuted to California State University Northridge and obtained a master’s degree in music.

Torn between music and medicine, Taylor was granted a leave of absence from medical school to pursue music studies and was accepted into Juilliard School of Music in New York to study violin under the direction of Dorothy DeLay. While there he decided to pursue a musical career and received his doctoral degree in musical arts from Juilliard.

Taylor has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards, among them the Coleman Chamber Music Award, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago Soloist Auditions, the Joseph Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, the Lipizer International Competition (Italy) and the 2000 Adventist Alumni Achievement Award for the Arts. He has been concertmaster of both the Redlands and Riverside symphony orchestras in California and was a member of the Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia. From 2007–2011 Taylor served as assistant concertmaster for the New Zealand Symphony. He is now principal second violin of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

To purchase tickets for this concert, visit howard.andrews.edu or call the box office at 269-471-3560.