Pianist Clayton Stephenson to Perform at 92NY in April

The 92nd Street Y will present 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 . Online streaming is available 72 hours following the performance.

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); and GERSHWIN Rhapsody in Blue.

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.