Growing up in New York City, Clayton Stephenson found musical inspiration in community programs. As he describes it, the “Third Street Music School jump-started my music education; the Young People’s Chorus of New York City taught me phrasing and voicing; the Juilliard Music Advancement Program introduced me to formal and rigorous piano training, which enabled me to get into Juilliard Pre-College; the Morningside Music Bridge validated my talent and elevated my self-confidence; the Boy’s Club of New York exposed me to jazz; and the Lang Lang Foundation brought me to stages worldwide and transformed me from a piano student to a young artist.”
Stephenson has performed as a guest artist with orchestras including the Calgary Philharmonic, Chicago Sinfonietta, Louisville Orchestra, Augusta Symphony, Colour of Music Festival, and Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra. On the 69th U.N. Day, he appeared with the International Youth Orchestra at the United Nations General Assembly Hall. He has given recitals at Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, Kissinger Sommer Festival in Bad Kissinger, Beethovenfest in Bonn, Stars and Rising Stars in Munich, Swiss Alps Classics at Switzerland, and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Additionally, Stephenson has been featured on NPR, WUOL, and WQXR, and has appeared in the Grammy Salute to Classical Music concert at Carnegie’s Stern Auditorium.
Stephenson currently 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. Accolades along the way have included: 2022 Gilmore Young Artist; 2017 U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts; Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award; Gheens Young Artist; Young Scholar of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation; and a jury discretionary award at the 2015 Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival.