Praised for his “graceful” playing by the Washington Examiner, lutenist Kevin Payne is active as a recitalist, accompanist, and continuo player in the Seattle area.
Recent ensemble work includes performances with Tempesta di Mare, il Giardino d’Amore, New York City Opera, Sinfonieorchester Liechtenstein, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Spoleto Festival, and the Boston Early Music Festival, and he has worked with noted conductors including William Christie, Andrea Marcon, Richard Egarr, Monica Huggett, Jordi Savall, and Masaaki Suzuki. Performance venues include Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, Benaroya Hall in Seattle, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., National Concert Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, and the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden, Germany. His playing has been broadcast on a number of national radio programs, including Sunday Baroque and Performance Today.
Payne holds a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Music degree from the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, Maryland, with additional studies at the Juilliard School in New York, as well as at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel, Switzerland, where he studied with Hopkinson Smith.