use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates = , burial_place = , burial_coordinates = , monuments = , nationality = , other_names = , siglum = , citizenship = , education = , alma_mater =

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

University of Western Sydney Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, Australia. The university in its current form was founded in 1989 as a federated network u ...

, occupation = Zoomusicologist, musician, composer , years_active = , era = , employer =

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of S ...

, organization = , agent = , known_for = Arguing that birdsong is music , notable_works = '' Absolute Bird'', '' Is Birdsong Music?'' , style = , net_worth = , height = , television = , title = , term = , predecessor = , successor = , party = , movement = , opponents = , boards = , criminal_charges = , criminal_penalty = , criminal_status = , spouse = , partner =

Jon Rose Jonathan Anthony Rose (born 19 February 1951) is an Australian violinist, cellist, composer, and multimedia artist. Rose's work is centered in the experimental music known as free improvisation, where he has created large environmental multimed ...

, children = , parents = , mother = , father = , relatives = , family = , callsign = , awards = , website = , module = , module2 = , module3 = , module4 = , module5 = , module6 = , signature = , signature_size = , signature_alt = , footnotes = Hollis Taylor is an American-born Australian zoomusicologist and composer and a violinist and fiddler. She has argued that birdsong should be approached as music.

Early life and education

Taylor was born in the United States. She graduated from

West Linn High School West Linn High School is a public high school in West Linn, Oregon, United States. It is one of two high schools in the West Linn-Wilsonville School District, the other being Wilsonville High School. Academics In 1984, West Linn High School was ho ...

in West Linn, Oregon. She graduated from

Webster University Webster University is a private university with its main campus in Webster Groves, Missouri. It has multiple branch locations across the United States and countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs ...

in St. Louis with a bachelor's degree in violin performance. In 2009 she received a PhD from the

School of Communication Arts with a concentration in musicology,

ornithology Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

, and composition.

Work

Composition and performance

Taylor played with the

Oregon Symphony The Oregon Symphony is an American symphony orchestra based in Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded as the 'Portland Symphony Society' in 1896, it is the sixth oldest orchestra in the United States, and oldest in the Western United States. I ...

while still a teenager. She was the 1982 Oregon Old Time Fiddle Champion. During the 1980s and 1990s she headed the Hollis Taylor Band, an acoustic country trio, and was a member of other groups. She became

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signifi ...

Wolf Trap A wolf trap (Spanish ''lobera'', Italian ''luparia'') was a chase ending in a pit with trapdoor and stakes used by beaters in hunting wolves in medieval Europe.Towards a History of the Basque Language José Ignacio Hualde, Joseba A. Lakarra, Rob ...

Pied butcherbird 7th Brigade Park Chermside P1070148

Since 2005, Taylor has recorded the song of the pied butcherbird, an Australian songbird known for its unusually complex and beautiful singing, and used it to compose ''Absolute Bird: Concerto for Recorder and Orchestra'', which was performed in 2017 by the

Adelaide Symphony Orchestra The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (ASO) is a South Australian performing arts organisation comprising 75 full-time musicians, established in 1936. Based in Adelaide, South Australia, the orchestra's primary performance venue is the Adelaide Town Ha ...

. She co-composed with

''Bitter Springs Creek 2014'', which featured butcherbird songs she recorded in the

MacDonnell Ranges The MacDonnell Ranges, or Tjoritja in Arrernte, is a mountain range located in southern Northern Territory. MacDonnell Ranges is also the name given to an interim Australian bioregion broadly encompassing the mountain range, with an area of .< ...

in 2014 In 2017, she produced a double album, ''Absolute Bird'', which featured birdsong,

cane toad The cane toad (''Rhinella marina''), also known as the giant neotropical toad or marine toad, is a large, terrestrial true toad native to South and mainland Central America, but which has been introduced to various islands throughout Oceania ...

, and other

field recordings Field recording is the term used for an audio recording produced outside a recording studio, and the term applies to recordings of both natural and human-produced sounds. It also applies to sound recordings like electromagnetic fields or vibrat ...

Academic research

According to the ''Sydney Morning Herald'', Taylor "established that not only is it possible to identify individual birds by their calls but that those calls evolve over time." She has argued that birdsong is music; traditional musicology excludes anything not created by humans. Taylor argues that the song of the pied butcherbird, in addition to being a form of communication, has an aesthetic character, with technique and inventiveness similar to human compositions, and that along with behavioral evidence supports the conclusion that birds have an aesthetic sensibility which may be analogous to that of humans. In 2019, Taylor was appointed an Australia Research Council Future Fellow at

Books

* '' Is Birdsong Music?'' (2017). Indiana University Press.

Personal life

Taylor has lived in Sydney since 2002. She has both US and Australian citizenship. Her partner is

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Hollis Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American violinists Australian violinists Women violinists American fiddlers American ornithologists Australian ornithologists American musicologists Australian musicologists American composers American women composers Australian composers Australian women composers People from Clackamas County, Oregon Musicians from Portland, Oregon Musicians from Sydney Washington University in St. Louis alumni Western Sydney University alumni Macquarie University faculty