Chad R. Payton, Countertenor, obtained his Master’s of Music Degree in Vocal Performance at the University of Missouri, where he served as a graduate teaching assistant in the vocal department and taught voice in the Community Music Program.  Mr. Payton recently transitioned to countertenor repertoire having studied tenor for many years at the University.  He is a two-time Young Artist with the Seagle Music Colony in upstate New York.  Oratorio engagements include Countertenor Soloist in Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Saint Joseph Symphony and Quincy Symphony Orchestra; Alto Soloist in Mozart’s Requiem; Alto Soloist in Vivaldi’s Magnificat and Gloria; Alto Soloist in Handel’s Messiah, Alto Soloist in Haydn’s The Creation, and Boy Soloist in Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms.  He will be a featured soloist with the Odyssey Chamber Music Series of Columbia, performing Isaac in Britten’s Canticle II:  Abraham and Isaac and P.D.Q. Bach’s Liebeslieder Polkas.  Payton has portrayed Orfeo in Orfeo ed Euridice, the Offizier in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos; Sid in the children’s opera, Sid the Serpent Who Wanted to Sing; Lilas Pastia in Bizet’s Carmen; Don Pelagio in Haydn’s La Canterina; the Magician in Menotti’s The Consul; and made his Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center debuts as the Mandan Warrior and Cameawait in Michael Ching’s world premiere of Corps of Discovery—A Musical Journey.  Additional scenes include Nemorino in L’Elisir d’Amore, Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly, and Don Jose in Carmen.  Musical theatre credits with the Seagle Music Colony include Hot!  The Music of Cole Porter and A George Gershwin Celebration, Clem in Most Happy Fella, Herbert Quale in South Pacific, Perchik in Fiddler on the Roof, and the Bird Seller in Sweeney Todd:  The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.  While at the University of Missouri he portrayed the Young Soldier and Judge Roan in Jason Robert Brown’s Parade.