Jarae Payton, a native of Spring Lake, NC, began singing at the tender age of 2 years old. Born into a musical family, she continued to perform locally as a young child and into her teens, appearing on television before she was out of elementary school. Ms. Payton studied with Mrs. D’Walla Burke, under a full scholarship, at Winston-Salem State University. Later, she’d attend and graduate from the nationally acclaimed, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, receiving her Bachelor of Music in Voice, with Mr. Glenn Siebert (Nationally Acclaimed Tenor) as her voice teacher. Ms. Payton scored superior ratings in the NCNATS auditions as well as raving reviews, in the Metropolitan Auditions. Through the course of time, she has had the pleasure of being the guest soloist for many events, special concerts, and services, to include singing for former president, George Bush, Dr. Maya Angelou, and Mr. George Walker, just to name a few. Ms. Payton combined her passion of music with teaching, beginning in the Cumberland County School System as a Choral Director and Creative Dramatics Instructor, and later began teaching voice part-time at the Snyder Music Academy. In August 2014, Ms. Payton became a member of the Arts team at The Capitol Encore Academy, and began her private studio for voice in January 2015. In July 2015, she was featured on the “Will Harris & Friends” project with a song entitled, “Receive Our Praise Again” to overwhelming support. Ms. Payton continues to help enrich the lives of people young and old, through her love of music!