“Pocket-sized mezzo” Taylor Hillary Boykins can be found sharing her talents all over the greater Baltimore/Washington area. During the 2018-2019 season, she was in recital with Thrive Music Live, followed by an appearance with St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church as alto soloist for their performance of Duruflé’s Requiem.  She began 2019 with a bang— in collaboration with local chamber favorites Bedlam Brass, Mind on Fire, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for the Dan Deacon Pulse show at the Meyerhoff. In late spring, she was featured for a second time with the Maryland Choral Society, she was a national finalist in The American Prize Competition for the Friedrich and Virginia Schorr Memorial Award in Voice: Women in Opera, and she’ll be serving as an ambassador for Maryland Opera’s Opera-To-Go program for a third season. 2017-2018 season took Taylor to the West Coast, debuting as alto soloist with the Gonzaga University University Concert Choir, performing Michael Tippett’s A Child of Our Time in Spokane, WA. She was later deemed a finalist for the 2018 Chicago Oratorio Award. In 2016-2017, Taylor was commissioned to perform An Evening of Opera; a lecture recital held at the University of Toledo in March of 2017. In fall of 2016, she made her debut as alto soloist in Gustav Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, with one of Baltimore’s innovative chamber orchestras, Symphony Number One. This season, Taylor will be performing with Annapolis Opera, Mind On Fire, The Mainstay Rock Hall, The George Peabody Library’s: In The Stacks concert series, et al. She earned her Master of Music degree in vocal performance from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, where she was a protégé of Denyce Graves. A native of Michigan, she received her Bachelor of Music degree from Oakland University in Rochester, MI as a student of contralto, Nadine Washington.

Joseph Regan is thrilled to be returning to the Bach in Baltimore Concert Series this season. Mr. Regan is a highly sought after performer whose singing has taken him all over the Eastern Seaboard and parts of Europe. Recent highlights from the opera stage include a turn as Azaël from Debussy’s L’Enfant Prodigue for Lyric Opera of Baltimore, Don José in Opus Concert Theater’s production of Carmen, and Pinkerton from Madame Butterfly with Loudon Lyric Opera. Mr. Regan is frequently engaged as a tenor soloist. He is particularly well known for his singing of Bach and Handel with numerous performances of Handel’s Messiah as well as Bach’s Passions and Cantatas to his credit. Recent highlights include the regional premiere of the concert oratorio Barbara Allen with Shepherd University Masterworks and Gerald Finzi’s A Farewell to Arms with Live Arts Maryland. In addition to multiple turns as the tenor soloist for Bach’s St. John Passion, Mr. Regan recently made his debut as the Evangelist. Mr. Regan also deeply enjoys singing art song, in particular French Mélodies. This intimate and personal form allows him to more deeply explore the connection between text, music, emotional intent, and its impact on the listener.

He earned his BM and MM from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University and his DMA from University of Maryland, College Park.

Eliam Ramos is a thrilling Puerto Rican bass-baritone who has performed opera and concert works with companies in the United States, Spain, Israel and Mexico. His artistic engagements range from traditional opera such as Leporello in Don Giovanni, to Luis Nogales in the zarzuela Luisa Fernanda, to symphony concerts such as Fauré’s Requiem to the title role of the modern composition of El Cimarrón by Hans Werner Henze.

Mr. Ramos’ will be featured in several productions of La Bohème in the fall season of 2022. He’s contracted to sing Schaunard with Soo Theatre in Michigan, and also engaged with The Metropolitan Opera Guild as a featured soloist in their 2022-2023 season.

Tess Ottinger, soprano, is a versatile performer based in the Northern Virginia area and is passionate about performing all aspects of the classical art form. Most recently, Ms. Ottinger has performed with the Young Victorian Theatre Company, making her debut as Mabel in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms. Ottinger won 1st place in the 2021 and 2022 Mid-Atlantic Regional NATS competition, and placed 2nd in the 2021 NATS Artist Award.

While pursuing her Master of Music at the Johns Hopkins Peabody Institute, Ms. Ottinger performed the roles of Lisette in Puccini’s La Rondine and Nella in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. She also had the opportunity to perform in several recitals, including Lori Laitman’s I Never Saw Another Butterfly. Pre-pandemic, Ms. Ottinger was the chosen vocalist for the INTERPLAY: A Peabody-UMBC Partnership project.

Additionally, Ms. Ottinger has performed as a soloist with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Williamsburg Choral Guild, Oratorio Society of Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth University Symphony, VCU Symphonic Wind Ensemble, and VCU Commonwealth Singers, performing works such as Poulenc’s Gloria. In 2020 Ms. Ottinger was scheduled to perform Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, but this event was canceled due to the pandemic. She currently resides in Fairfax, Virginia.

Ms. Ottinger is currently on the voice faculty at the prestigious Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, and is a soprano section leader at The National Presbyterian Church. She holds two Bachelor of Music degrees in Vocal Performance and Music Education from Virginia Commonwealth University, and a Master of Music in Vocal Performance/Vocal Pedagogy from The Johns Hopkins Peabody Institute.