Malcolm Taylor

Biography

Malcolm Taylor is a percussionist, educator and photographer based in Maryland. He is a strong advocate for new music and seeks to collaborate with composers, artists and dancers from diverse backgrounds. He focuses on incorporating theatrical elements and technology with percussion music and creating interdisciplinary performances, most notably collaborating with the Towson University Theatre Department on the 2018 production of Icarus at the Border: a meditation on monstrous appetites. His current academic research is focused on Afro-Futurism and experimental aesthetics in percussion music.

Malcolm is a founding member of Matchstick Percussion, a Maryland-based percussion quartet dedicated to uplifting voices of underrepresented composers. The group actively commissions and collaborates with composers and artists and tours their programs across the East Coast. As a freelancer he has performed with ensembles such as the 21st Century Consort, New Orchestra of Washington and the American Festival Pops Orchestra. 

Focused on diversity, equity and inclusion in percussion, Malcolm serves as the Marketing Director on board of the Network for Diversity in Concert Percussion. 

Malcolm holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Performance from Towson University and a Master of Music from Penn State University where he was the Percussion Graduate Teaching Assistant. He is currently pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at George Mason University as a Presidential Scholar. His teachers include Dr. Michelle Humphreys, Dr. Lee Hinkle, Mike Noonan, Marsha Becker, Ronen Itzek and John Spirtas.

Away from music, Malcolm enjoys cooking (and related videos), tasting new coffees and teas and exploring computer programming and electronics.