BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.2.3.1//EN BEGIN:VEVENT UID:87@grandpianoseries.org DTSTART;TZID=Pacific/Easter:20240208T193000 DTEND;TZID=Pacific/Easter:20240208T210000 DTSTAMP:20240222T034732Z URL:https://grandpianoseries.org/events/clayton-stephenson/ SUMMARY:Clayton Stephenson DESCRIPTION:\n\n"Stephenson is not just a remarkable virtuoso\, but a poet\ , a dramatist\, and a master storyteller.”- Gramophone\n\n\n\n2022 Gilmo re Young Artist\, American pianist Clayton Stephenson’s love for music i s 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.\n\nGrowing up in New York City\, C layton started piano lessons at age 7 and was accepted into the Juilliard Outreach Music Advancement Program for underprivileged children the next y ear\, where he attended numerous student recitals and fell in love with mu sic. At the age of 10 he advanced to Juilliard’s elite Pre-College progr am with the help of his teacher\, Beth Nam. At Juilliard he studied with M atti Raekallio\, Hung-Kuang Chen and Ernest Barretta. Clayton practiced on a synthesizer at home until he found an old upright piano on the street t hat an elementary school had thrown away\; that would become his practice piano for the next six years\, until the Lang Lang Foundation donated a ne w piano to him when he was 17.\n\nHe credits the generous support of commu nity programs with providing him musical inspiration and resources along t he way. As he describes it\, the “3rd Street Music School jump-started m y music education\; the Young People’s Choir taught me phrasing and voic ing\; the Juilliard Outreach Music Advancement Program introduced me to fo rmal and rigorous piano training\, which enabled me to get into Juilliard Pre-College\; the Morningside Music Bridge validated my talent and elevate d my self-confidence\; the Boy’s Club of New York exposed me to jazz\; a nd the Lang Lang Foundation brought me to stages worldwide and transformed me from a piano student to a young artist.”\n\nRecent and upcoming high lights of Clayton’s burgeoning career include appearances with the Calga ry Philharmonic\, Chicago Sinfonietta\, and the Fort Worth\, Louisville\, Lansing and North Carolina Symphony Orchestras\; as well as recitals at th e Phillips Collection Concert Series in Washington\, DC\, Foundation Louis Vuitton Auditorium in Paris\, Bad Kissinger Sommer Festival and Beethoven Fest in Germany\, Colour of Music Festival\, Ravinia Festival and Weill Re cital Hall at Carnegie Hall.  He has been featured on NPR\, WUOL\, and WQ XR\, and appeared in the “GRAMMY® Salute to Classical Music” Concert at Carnegie’s Stern Auditorium.\n\nHe now studies in the Harvard-NEC Dua l Degree Program\, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in economics at Harvard and a master’s degree in piano performance at the New England Conservato ry under Wha Kyung Byun. And his accolades along the way have been numerou s - in addition to being the first Black finalist at the Van Cliburn Inter national Piano Competition in 2022\, he was named a 2022 Gilmore Young Art ist\, as well as a 2017 U.S. 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 Pia no Competition and Festival.\n\n \;\n\n\n\n\nProgram\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBa ch-Busoni: Chaconne in D Minor\, BWV 1004\nBeethoven: Sonata No. 30 in E M ajor\, op. 109\n~ Intermission ~\nAlbéniz: Iberia\, Book I\nGershwin-Say: “Summertime” Variations\nGershwin: Rhapsody in Blue\n\nBach's masterp iece is transformed into a symphony for the piano in Busoni's epic re-imag ining. Followed by Beethoven's enigmatic and intimate sonata op. 109. Iber ia\, Book I\, by Albéniz\, will envelop you in the exotic flavors and cul ture of early 20th-century Spain. The evening concludes with beloved Gersh win's tunes that will have you singing along and smiling at the end of the concert.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGet Tickets\n\n ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://i0.wp.com/grandpianoseries.org/wp-conten t/uploads/2023/07/Clayton-Stephenson_Credit-Gilmore-Foundation-2-680x385-1 .jpg?fit=680%2C385&ssl=1 CATEGORIES:Past Events LOCATION:St Leo Auditorium\, 28290 Beaumont Rd\, Bonita Springs\, Florida\, 34134\, United States X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=28290 Beaumont Rd\, Bonita Springs\, Florida\, 34134\, United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TITLE=St Le o Auditorium:geo:0,0 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Pacific/Easter X-LIC-LOCATION:Pacific/Easter BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20230902T230000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0600 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:-05 END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR