Roman
Payer

The 2026/2027 season takes Roman Payer to several major stages and into a new role debut: as Florestan, he returns to Fidelio at the Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater Schwerin, and at the Aalto-Theater Essen he sings the role of Samuel in the world premiere of Day of Night by composer Sauli Tarkiainen. With the Würth Philharmoniker he can be heard in Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, and he tours with the Neue Philharmonie Frankfurt over New Year. In July 2027, Roman Payer takes on the title role of Lohengrin for the first time at the Opernfestspiele Heidenheim.

Most recently, Roman Payer appeared as Peter Grimes at the Staatstheater Oldenburg, as Sergei in Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District at Theater Hagen, as Max at the Staatstheater Cottbus, as the Officer in Cardillac at the Staatstheater Meiningen, and as the Drum Major in Wozzeck at Theater Lübeck.

A freelance artist since 2012, Roman Payer's guest engagements have taken him to the Semperoper, Oper Leipzig, Bayerische Staatsoper, Staatstheater Saarbrücken, Landestheater Salzburg, Tiroler Landestheater, Theater St. Gallen, the Seefestspiele Mörbisch, Landestheater Coburg and the Komische Oper Berlin.

His repertoire includes roles such as Florestan in Fidelio, Max in Der Freischütz, Tichon in Kát'a Kabanová, the title roles of Parsifal, Peter Grimes and Oedipus Rex, Ito in Weinberger's Frühlingsstürme, Hüon von Bordeaux in Oberon, and Tassilo in Gräfin Mariza. In the 2021/22 season, Roman Payer made his debut as Siegmund in Die Walküre at Theater Coburg and appeared as Walter in Die Passagierin, again at Theater Innsbruck. Further engagements followed as the First Stranger in Der Vetter aus Dingsda in Klagenfurt, as Max in Der Freischütz in Taiwan, and as Parsifal in Dornach, Switzerland. Alongside his stage career, Roman Payer is also a sought-after concert and Lieder singer, with a repertoire ranging from the Renaissance to the modern era.

Born in Vienna, Roman Payer began his musical training at the age of eight. He was a soprano soloist with the Vienna Boys' Choir and graduated with distinction in voice from the conservatory of his home city, studying under Helga Wagner and Lucia Meschwitz. Early on, he gained experience as an apprentice in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the Volksoper Wien and in children's operas at the Vienna State Opera. He was a permanent ensemble member at Theater Augsburg and Landestheater Coburg, where he developed his lyric tenor voice before moving into the young dramatic (jugendliches Heldenfach) repertoire.