Khalil Payne

Khalil Payne is a current Junior at the University of North Florida. Starting his journey on cello at the age of eleven, he played in the Honor Orchestra through his middle school years. In February of 2019 he made his first performance at the prestigious Carnegie hall with the Honors Performance Series Symphony orchestra. In 2020 Just right before covid, Khalil made his debut on television at the age of 16 for his second upcoming performance at Carnegie hall. He was interviewed on the shows Sister Circle, Atlanta and Company, and Fox 5 news. That summer he participated in the YOLA National Festival (Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles) and he was accepted into their National Institute where they talk about the culture of not only classical music, but all genres, and make discussions or panels based off of our topics we would want to cover or debate about. Khalil did his first residency with the YNI (YOLA National Institute) in the summer of 2021 at the Walnut Hill School of the Arts, which later led to his first National Symposium that he would be a part of. He was on a Youth Panel with YNI talking about the possible future with classical music. In April of that year he won 3rd prize of the District Omega Psi Phi Talent Hunt which consisted of contestants from Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama. In the summer of 2022, Khalil attended and performed in YNF (YOLA National Festival) and competed in the National NAACP ACT-SO competition. Just after his freshman year of College, he also participated in the Ascent Cello Festival which had guest teachers Hans Jensen and Richard Aaron, and the Ascent Chamber Music Festival. The following year, he entered the UNF Orchestra Concerto Competition and became one out of two winners who later performed as a soloist with the UNF Orchestra. That year he has earned the Outstanding Musician Award, and that summer he Attended the Ascent Cello and Chamber Music Festival, along with The Complete Cellist, all taking place in Cincinatti, and Hudson Ohio.