In 2022, American pianist Clayton Stephenson became the first Black finalist at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.American pianist Clayton Stephenson, a finalist in the 16th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, will perform at the University of Alabama at Birmingham on Sunday, Jan. 22.
Stephenson will perform as part of the UAB Piano Series, which brings the world’s finest pianists to Birmingham and is presented by the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Music. Distinguished Professor of Piano and Artist-in-Residence Yakov Kasman, DMA, a Van Cliburn medalist, directs the series. Performances are held in UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center.
For the 4 p.m. performance, Stephenson will present a program of works by Scriabin, Bach, Beethoven, Prokofiev, Egon Petri, Art Tatum and George Gershwin. Tickets are $15; $5 for students through grade 12 and UAB employees; free to UAB students. Call 205-975-2787 or visit AlysStephens.org.
Stephenson’s love for music is immediately apparent in his joyous charisma onstage, expressive power and natural ease at the instrument, according to his artist’s statement. 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.
With his performance in 2022, Stephenson became the first Black finalist at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. He is a 2022 Gilmore Young Artist, as well as a 2017 United States Presidential Scholar in the Arts and a Young Scholar of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation. He also received a jury discretionary award at the 2015 Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival.
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, Bad Kissingen Sommer Festival and BeethovenFest in Germany, Colour of Music Festival, Ravinia Festival and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.
He credits the generous support of community programs with providing him musical inspiration and resources along the way. Growing up in New York City, Stephenson started piano lessons at age 7. He was accepted into the Juilliard Outreach Music Advancement Program for underprivileged children the next year, where he attended student recitals and fell in love with music. At the age of 10, he advanced to Juilliard’s elite Pre-College program. 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. 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.