Taylor Burgess, a Riverhead High School graduate with an impressive performance portfolio, is bringing her refined talent and extensively trained voice back to the East End.
On Feb. 8 at 5 p.m. Burgess is putting on Winter Moon: A Tribute to the Harlem Renaissance, taking audience members on a trip in time through spirituals, art songs and jazz at the Jamesport Meeting House.
“Expect to go on a journey with me,” says Burgess. “I hope this almost feels like a musical hug. There are a lot of songs of comfort — of course you need some action, so there will be some drama — but it will be tamed with beautiful melodies and something different for the ears.”
At 14 years old, Burgess discovered that her love for music could be turned into a career, so she went full speed ahead on making that a possibility for herself and never looked back.
Burgess attended Shoreham Wading River High School for her freshman and sophomore year and Riverhead High School for her junior and senior year. She was part of All-County Choir, All-State Choir, The Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of New York, Shoreham Wading River and Riverhead’s drama departments, Wading River’s Vocal Express, Riverhead Chamber Choir and many other arts organizations — this list just barely scratching the surface.
Outside of the regular school week, Burgess went to Stony Brook University’s Pre-College program and New York State Summer School for the Arts.
“Similar to when a child is gifted in athletics, how a parent will make sure they can be in all of the extracurricular things that can help them become a good athlete and then get a good scholarship, that’s kind of what I did with music,” says Burgess. “I was like, I’m just going to train like an athlete would so anything I could be a part of, I made sure I could at least apply and give it a try.”
Burgess received her undergraduate education from Purchase College Conservatory of Music, finishing with a bachelor’s in jazz; earned an advanced certificate in voice from the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College; then moved to Amsterdam, Netherlands to go for her master’s in music at Dutch National Opera Academy.
Since then, Burgess has made Amsterdam home and performs internationally as a freelance musician, keeping her schedule as packed as it was when she started pursuing her dream.
“I’m still the same person,” says Burgess. “I hit this mode where it’s just like almost — I won’t call it alien — but just like [a] machine. Once I’m in that mode, I could have a month and a half worth of running on fumes and then it all will pause, or I’ll catch a cold and I will just take three weeks off and no one will hear from me.”
Close to home, Burgess has done a few shows with The Metropolitan Opera, where she auditions annually.
In 2024 at The Met, she sang in Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up In My Bones, and in December 2025 returned for Porgy and Bess.
Her Jamesport Meeting House performance, where she’ll be accompanied by pianist Eunha So, is just one of her shows of 2026, with other projects and productions in the works.
Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for children. Purchase here.
