Baritone John Taylor Ward, of Boone, NC, proudly returns to the Lakes Area Music Festival for his fifth season as Co-Founder and Assistant Director. Performing in opera, recital, musical theatre, and oratorio since the age of five, his favorite roles include the title role in Mozart’s The Impresario, the Emcee in Kander and Ebb’s Cabaret, and Arkêl in Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande. He made his orchestral debut under the baton of Paul O’Dette as winner of the Eastman Vocal Concerto Competition and recently made his European debut with Masaaki Suzuki and Juilliard 415 as Jesus in the St. Matthew Passion by Bach. This summer he will also appear as Il Re in Händel’s Ariodante with the American Bach Soloists. He attended the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and holds a Bachelor’s of Music from the Eastman School of Music. He is currently pursuing a Master’s of Music at the Yale School of Music.