“One knew Stephenson meant business from the powerful opening chords, but his performance rose far above pure bombast. He maintained a sense of line even in the most virtuosic passages, and shifted among the work’s mercurial moods—playful, somber, demonic—with intelligence and poise.”

“At last my home town of New York City was represented on Friday morning’s Preliminary Recital when 23-year-old Clayton Stephenson took charge of Haydn’s D major Sonata Hob:XVI, No 37. His perky and ebullient outer movements framed a slow movement that abounded in warmth and gravitas. I only wish he’d been able to include the repeats! Stephenson’s crisp, highly articulated and discreetly pedaled treatment of the faster sections in Hough’s piece contrasted to his generously lyrical phrasing elsewhere throughout his absolutely fabulous rendition. I’ve never heard Guido Agosti’s transcription of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite sound so fresh, incisive and characterfully alive, with luminous soft-chord playing, breathtaking transitions and none of the lumbering thickness one often hears. Even those interminable tremolos and glissandos soared to high heaven. Stephenson eased his way into the introductory bars of the Godowsky/Strauss Symphonic Metamorphosis on Die Fledermaus, and continued to chart the transcription’s complex course by untangling and clarifying the contrapuntal strands like a master choreographer or puppeteer. Stephenson is not just a remarkable virtuoso, but a poet, a dramatist and a master story-teller.”

“American Clayton Stephenson, 23, the second pianist of the day to opt for the New York Steinway over the Hamburg instrument, opened with a gorgeously mellow rendition of the Prelude from Ravel's Le tombeau de Couperin, creating a smooth pillow of sound via a combination of the soft pedal, judicious pressure on the damper pedal, and a skillful touch. Liszt's Ballade No. 2 in B minor, less massive but very much akin to the same composer's massive Sonata in B minor, provided a superb showpiece for Stephenson's wide range of expression, including a volcanic musical climax. Stephenson closed with Prokofiev's Sonata No. 7, explosive in the outer movements and intense in the slow middle movement, inducing a cheering ovation.”

“Clayton Stephenson began his Quarter final offering with an uncommonly relaxed and flexible account of the Prelude from Ravel’s Le tombeau de Couperin, quite different from faster, dryer versions dominating the market. This pianist’s extraordinary narrative and poetic gifts, his sense of proportion and genius for scaling dynamics characterised his captivating and original conception of Liszt’s B minor Ballade. For once you could ascertain the pitches in those rumbling bass-register scales, and the agitato passages were carefully sculpted for maximum expressive effect and minimum vulgarity. In Prokofiev’s Seventh Sonata, the pianist took great chances in his brisk and cheeky first movement, while keeping his spacious slow movement transparently afloat. Stephenson’s smartly judged tempo for the finale allowed him to fully orchestrate the piano-writing’s glittering surface, imparting shape and specificity to implied counter-melodies and inner rhythms. Given the way too many competitors sprint through this finale like an Olympic event, Stephenson’s intelligent virtuosity should not go unnoticed.”

“Clayton Stephenson, a 23-year-old American, charmed the audience with a suave, Ellington-esque take on Gershwin’s Concerto in F. In his performance, Stephenson proved he could paint on this much larger canvas with technical assurance and a rich tonal palette. One was immediately struck by Stephenson’s ease at the instrument as he leaned in, shaping phrases with long fingers and marvelously flexible wrists.  … he showed how a sensitive pianist with good timing and tonal range can mine beauty and meaning from a comparatively simple score. The audience clearly was appreciative.”

“Clayton Stephenson also chose music of Haydn to open his set — this time the Sonata in D Major, Hob. XVI: 37. The pianist set a spirited tempo in the Allegro con brio. Never rushed, his handling of the movement’s technical demands was impressive, especially his left hand scale passages. His playing was expressive and full of life. The brief, sorrowful Largo wonderfully set up the joyful conversational motifs and sudden changes of character in the Presto, all of which Stephenson tossed off with aplomb.”

“Stephenson owns a natural charisma and ability to connect with the audience that can guarantee a foothold in the concert world, regardless of the outcome of this contest.”