My Mizzou Story
Chad Payton
Let the adventure begin for MU music student Chad Payton, winner of a $25,000 Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship. As a Rotary Scholar, he will do nine months of post-graduate study at the University of Wellington in New Zealand, all expenses paid.
Payton will pack his bags after May graduation when he receives a master’s degree in vocal performance. In New Zealand, he will study vocal performance, add courses on music therapy and give voice lessons.
Payton has an unusual talent. He sings as a countertenor, one of the rarest of voices.
With a vocal range of two and a half octaves and a top note of "B" below high "C," he sings as high as a mezzo soprano, yet his voice is unmistakably male and strong. Associate Professor Ann Harrell, Payton’s vocal teacher, describes the sound as a beefy mezzo with a legitimate tone rather than a falsetto.
Payton began vocal performance study as an undergraduate with a pretty tenor voice, but he lacked power to project the sound. He found a new voice by experimenting with his falsetto and singing alto for a church choir performance of Vivaldi’s Magnificat. "As soon as I switched, everything fell into alignment," he says.
After changing to countertenor a year ago, Payton won the first vocal competition he entered, the tri-state graduate division of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. He competed against students from Missouri, Illinois and Iowa.
When Payton returns to the United States from his adventure in New Zealand, he will apply to a university opera program seeking a countertenor. In the music world where lyric sopranos are a dime a dozen, opera programs and companies need countertenors because of a resurgence of interest in early music. Many compositions by Handel, Bach and Mozart include countertenor parts.
Stay tuned. Payton’s adventure will continue.