Theo Payen is a French violinist with an international performance career spanning orchestral, chamber, theatrical, and touring productions. A graduate of Berklee College of Music, he also studied at New England Conservatory, Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussels and the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Belgium.
He performs regularly with ensembles across the United States and Europe, including the RoyalConcertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, NorwalkSymphony Orchestra, Waterbury Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, New York Arabic Orchestra, Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, Modus Operandi Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic, and Orchestre National de Picardie. He has performed under the baton of renowned conductors including Dennis Russell Davies, Christoph Eschenbach, Lucie Leguay, Paavo Järvi, Andrey Boreyko, Stéphane Denève, and Nikolaj Znaider, as well as sharing the stage with Anne Sophie Mutter, Alena Baeva or Alexandre Kantorow.
Notable venues include New York’s Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Madison Square Garden, Boston’s Fenway Park, Paris’s Accord Hotel Arena and Philarmonie, Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw, Rotterdam’s Ahoy, Théatre Antique d’Orange, Monaco’s Rainier lll Auditorium, Chongqing Grand Theater, Shanghai’s Grand Theater, Brussels’s Bozar and Paleis 12, and Geneva’s Arena.
In addition to his orchestral work, he is active in musical theater and live touring productions. His Broadway and Off-Broadway credits include 1776, Spring Awakening, Guys and Dolls, and Infernal. He has also toured internationally with productions such as Hans Zimmer Live and the Ennio Morricone European Tour.
Theo Payen is equally active in cross-genre collaborations. He has performed with artists including Plastic Bertrand, Ferré Gola, Daymé Arocena, Pinar Toprak, Nan Schwartz, ADOY, Rob Lewis, Fuerza Regida, Paul Simon and the 8-Bit Big Band. A music video featuring Theo Payen and Ferré Gola has amassed over 6.5 million views across YouTube and Instagram. He has performed throughout the United States, Colombia, France, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Lebanon, Qatar, China and the Caribbean, appearing at festivals, concerts, and private events.
As a soloist, Theo has performed concertos including Vaughan Williams’s Lark Ascending, Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto 1, Bruch’s Violin Concerto 1 and Saint-Saëns’s Violin Concerto 3.
Based in New York City, Theo Payen maintains a diverse freelance career performing orchestral concerts, theatrical productions, recording sessions, recitals and international tours. He plays on an 1810 Lorenzo Ventapane violin.