Payton Dziekan is a double bassist and educator based in Rochester, New York. A recent graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Payton has enjoyed a varied career of orchestral, opera, chamber, and solo opportunities. Payton previously served as principal bass of the Eastman Philharmonia, Eastman School Symphony Orchestra (ESSO), and Eastman Opera Theater Orchestra (EOT). She has also served as principal bass of the National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute, and assistant principal bass of the Music School Festival Orchestra at Chautauqua Institution. She has participated in many regional premiers of new music, including Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen’s Run and Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s Fields with OSSIA—Eastman’s student-run new-music ensemble— and Viktor Ullman’s Der Kaiser Von Atlantis with the Eastman Opera Theater. Payton has studied with bassist James VanDemark, Owen Lee, Curtis Burris and Charlie Nilles, and has performed in masterclasses for Kurt Muroki, Tracy Rowell, Marco Panascia, Jeffery Weisnenr and Robert Oppelt. In her spare time, Payton is an active freelance mezzo-soprano, and an avid connoisseur of iced coffee, ‘70s folk, and funky socks.