The 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY), one of New York’s leading cultural venues, presents Clayton Stephenson, piano on Friday, April 18, 2025 at 7:30pm ET at Buttenwieser Hall at The Arnhold Center and online. Tickets start at $40 for in person and $25 for online streaming and are available at https://www.92ny.org/event/clayton-stephenson. Online streaming is available 72 hours following the performance.

“Stephenson is not just a remarkable virtuoso, but a poet, a dramatist, and a master storyteller” -Gramophone

Acclaimed young pianist Clayton Stephenson, finalist in the Van Cliburn International Competition and a Gilmore Young Artist Award winner – past winners include Yuja Wang – joins us in his 92NY debut. Accolades pour in for Stephenson’s artistry in performances marked by technical brilliance, an extraordinary sense of color, and a repertoire that ranges from core classical to jazz-influenced work. Hear him as his career takes flight.

The program will include:
J.S. BACH “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring,” BWV 142 (arr. M. Hess)
SCHUBERT Four Impromptus, Op. 90, D. 899
STRAVINSKY Three Movements from Petrushka
HAROLD ARLEN “Over the Rainbow” (arr. K. Jarrett)
GERSHWIN Rhapsody in Blue

American pianist Clayton Stephenson’s love for music is immediately apparent in his joyous charisma onstage, expressive power, and natural ease at the instrument. Hailed for “extraordinary narrative and poetic gifts” and interpretations that are “fresh, incisive and characterfully alive” (Gramophone), he is committed to making an impact on the world through his music-making.

Growing up in New York City, Stephenson started piano lessons at age 7, and the next year was accepted into The Julliard School’s Music Advancement Program—a full scholarship program for under-represented students—where he lingered to watch student recitals and fell in love with music. He advanced to Juilliard’s elite Pre-College at age 10—with the help of his teacher at the time, Beth Nam, who gave him countless extra lessons without charge—to study with Matti Raekallio, Hung-Kuang Chen, and Ernest Barretta. Stephenson practiced on a synthesizer at home until he found an old upright piano on the street that an elementary school had thrown away; that would become his practice piano for the next six years, until the Lang Lang Foundation donated a new piano to him when he was 17.

Stephenson credits the generous support of community programs with providing him musical inspiration and resources along the way, including Third Street Music School, Young People’s Chorus of New York City, Morningside Music Bridge, and The Boys’ Club of New York.

Recent and upcoming highlights include concertos with the Houston, North Carolina, and Cincinnati symphony orchestras; festival appearances at Grand Teton, Grant Park, and Tippet Rise; recitals at Washington Performing Arts at the Kennedy Center, Fondation Louis Vuitton, and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall; gala performances with the New York and Las Vegas Philharmonics; and collaborations with violinists Nikki and Timothy Chooi. He also joins the Hartford Symphony Orchestra as 2024/25 Artist-in-Residence.

Stephenson graduated from the Harvard-New England Conservatory (NEC) dual degree program in spring 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in economics at Harvard and a master’s degree in piano performance at NEC under Wha Kyung Byun. In addition to being the first Black finalist at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2022, he received an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2024, won the inaugural Nina Simone Piano Competition in 2023, and is a 2025 Sphinx Medal of Excellence honoree.

About The 92nd Street Y, New York: The 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY) is a world-class center for the arts and innovation, a convener of ideas, and an incubator for creativity. 92NY offers extensive classes, courses and events online including live concerts, talks and master classes; fitness classes for all ages; 250+ art classes, and parenting workshops for new moms and dads. The 92nd Street Y, New York is transforming the way people share ideas and translate them into action all over the world. All of 92NY's programming is built on a foundation of Jewish values, including the capacity of civil dialogue to change minds; the potential of education and the arts to change lives; and a commitment to welcoming and serving people of all ages, races, religions, and ethnicities. For more information, visit www.92NY.org.
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• April 18

  April 18, 2025
• 92NY
  1395 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY

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