In Taylor's first appearance with the New York Philharmonic under Kurt Masur in Carnegie Hall in 2008 he was the Evangelist in the St Matthew Passion, singing with Matthias Goerne and Anna Larsson, among others. The review stated: "Above all, tying the story together, was James Taylor (no, not that James Taylor) as the Evangelist. Yes, his voice was radiant and resounding. More important was his dramatic turn of phrase, his moods from the extreme to the beatific, as he told – through a recitative which verged on aria – the story.".[7]
In 2009 he appeared with the Gächinger Kantorei and the New York Philharmonic under Helmuth Rilling in Avery Fisher Hall in Handel's Messiah in 2009,[11] reviewed in the New York Times: "The tenor James Taylor performed with conviction and plenty of bite. ".[12]
Bach: Mass in B minor, Sibylla Rubens, Juliane Banse, Ingeborg Danz, Andreas Schmidt, Thomas Quasthoff, Gächinger Kantorei, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, Helmuth Rilling, Hänssler, 1999 (#46 on bach-cantatas)