Hailed for “extraordinary narrative and poetic gifts” and interpretations that are “fresh, incisive and characterfully alive” (Gramophone), Clayton Stephenson was named 2022 Gilmore Young Artist, 2017 United States Presidential Scholar in the Arts and a Young Scholar of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation. In 2022, Clayton became the first Black finalist at the 16th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.
Highlights of Stephenson’s burgeoning career include appearances with the Calgary Philharmonic, Chicago Sinfonietta and the Fort Worth, Louisville, Lansing and North Carolina symphony orchestras, as well as recitals at the Phillips Collection Concert Series in Washington, D.C., Foundation Louis Vuitton Auditorium in Paris, Festival Bad Kissingen, and Beethovenfest in Germany, Colour of Music Festival, Ravinia Festival and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.
Stephenson was accepted into the Juilliard Outreach Music Advancement Program for underprivileged children and advanced to Juilliard’s Pre-College Program at the age of 10. He now studies in the Harvard-NEC Dual Degree Program, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in economics at Harvard and a master’s degree in piano performance at the New England Conservatory under Wha Kyung Byun.