Beverly Taylor, Assistant Conductor of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and Director of the Madison Symphony Chorus, is a frequent guest conductor at festivals throughout the United States. She has been recognized by critic Richard Dyer as a conductor who "has the crucial gift of inspiring people to give of their best, and beyond."

Ms. Taylor assumed the post of Director of Choral Activities at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1995, where she is director of the Concert Choir and the Choral Union, and directs the university choral conducting program. Since 1989, she has been conductor of the Boston Bar Association Orchestra and for seven years the Music Director of the Back Bay Chorale, in which she conducted concerts with the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra and other professional orchestras. Their recording of Robert Kyr's Passion According to Four Evangelists is available on the New Albion label.

In 1995, Ms. Taylor completed 17 years as the Associate Director of Choral Activities at Harvard University. In this position, she directed both the prize-winning Radcliffe Choral Society and the Harvard-Radcliffe Chorus. She led the groups on frequent domestic and international tours, directed a number of premieres of American music, and produced two recordings on the AFKA label.

As a guest conductor, Ms. Taylor has led the Artur Rubenstein Philharmonic Orchestra in Poland, the St. Louis Symphony Chorus, the Vermont Symphony, the Harvard Chamber Orchestra, the Madison Opera, the U.S. Air Force Band and Orchestra, the Harvard Radcliffe Collegium Musicum, and the Wellesley Chamber Singers. She worked with John Williams to prepare for a July 4th concert by conducing the Boston Pops Summer Esplanade Chorus.

A graduate of the University of Delaware and Boston University School for the Arts, Ms. Taylor has studied with Gustav Meier, Paul Vermel, Andrew Davis, Helmuth Rilling, Robert Shaw, Margaret Hillis, and Herbert Blomstedt. She has received a fellowship with Chorus America and an orchestral fellowship at Aspen.

In addition to preparing the Madison Symphony Chorus for all their appearances with the MSO, Ms. Taylor frequently conducts MSO youth concerts.