By day, Megan Taylor is Dr. Taylor—a practicing allergist and immunologist. She lives in Bala Cynwyd with her cardiologist husband and three children, ages 12, 15 and 18.

By night, she's Sapphirecut—renowned singer and DJ, and prolific composer of electronic dance music. She's got a top-notch recording studio in her basement.

SPIN DOCOTR: "Anyone who minimizes this music is just unaware of what is out there in the world."

Growing up near Pittsburgh, Taylor listened to Floyd and Eurhythmics, and performed in various choirs and rock bands, and danced in the clubs. At the same time she was earning a B.A. in chemistry, she was studying music theory.

But if you ask her, she became who she is today because of her childhood battle with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

"Much of the creation of my self has been driven by empathy and healing," says Taylor, whose condition kept her in the hospital for extended stays. "It was there that I developed a heightened sense of empathy for the children who were around me. I decided at a young age that I wanted to do something to help others and directed my life into medicine. When I closed my eyes I dreamed I was doing music, and when I opened them I moved forward to being a physician." Fortunately, those worlds are not mutually exclusive.

It wasn't until 1997 that she bought her first Casio keyboard in part to teach piano to her youngest. But when Taylor dove into the keyboard's Voyetra composition program, she was hooked. Soon she met keyboardist Dave Shaffer, and together they started sharing ideas, building up the home studio and pumping out electronic music.

"I think people have a misconception about what electronic music is," she contends. "Electronic music is made with machines and sounds. Electronic music can also have live guitars, flutes and voices. It can be played live with millions of novel instruments created by fluctuating sounds from machines. … Anyone who minimizes this music is just unaware of what is out there in the world."

Taylor's collaboration with Shaffer, Jake Knights and others has resulted in a plentitude of melodic, uplifting club tunes—topped with her own blissful singing voice—that ride on the edge of progressive trance. She's gone on to remix a song by Yoko Ono and release her own euphoric dancefloor anthems on prestigious record labels like Twisted America, Illustrious, SexonWax and Tsunami. Her music has been spun by heavy-hitter DJs like Danny Tenaglia, Paul Oakenfold and Tiësto.

In 2002, her debut single, "Free Your Mind" (Twisted), became a classic, making its way to the top 10 of the Billboard dance charts. "It was a great reward for me when 'Free Your Mind' became a global hit around 9/11," says Taylor. "Many DJs and fans told me how this song was healing for them because of this time, or because of another personal tragedy."

Taylor recently self-released her debut album, Archives of Sound: Volume 1—a compilation of tracks made over the last three years. Here you get 16 sing-songy, Euro-style club cuts that gracefully put Madonna and Cher's generic electronica endeavors to shame. "The completion of this album is a celebration of my journey and allows me to think forward into new sounds," she says.

The doc has also launched a radio program called Soundfront Underground with aims to "unite the sounds of the global electronic dance community and allow people in the U.S. to experience this music and connect to the globe." Dance mixes are broken up by interviews with internationally acclaimed artists. It's aired throughout the country on AM and FM stations, and streams from www.sapphirecut.com.

So music keeps her busy, but her family has been nothing but supportive. "My children told me that they have 'the coolest mom,' and they respect that I continue to lead my life with passion. They know that they are my first priority."

Sapphirecut CD release party, Sat., Feb. 18, 7 p.m.-1 a.m., free, World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St., 215-222-1400, www.worldcafelive.com, www.sapphirecut.com.

Sapphirecut
Archives of Sound: Volume 1
(Our Soundfront Publications)

This local DJ specializes in uplifting, heart-gushing club cuts: progressive trance with a touch of house, tribal, breakbeat and downtempo. While spanning these electronic music genres on her debut album, Archives of Sound, Sapphirecut interweaves chunky dancefloor beats, heavenly pianos, dreamy melodies and her angelic singing voice with heartfelt lyrics that exude empathy and inspiration. "There's a reason why it feels good," she gracefully chimes in "There's a Reason." Each of the 16 tracks is an epic anthem suitable for fans of Paul Oakenfold, Robert Miles and Tiësto.