Young Clayton Stephenson puts the audience in a trance at the Piano aux Jacobins festival in Toulouse

Praised by a municipal survey that made it the second favorite event of the inhabitants of the Pink City, the Piano aux Jacobins festival, which Catherine d'Argoubet programs in Toulouse every fall, continues its talent discovery for its 46th edition, until September 30. This is how the young African-American pianist Clayton Stephenson made his debut in France on Wednesday, September 10, at the age of 26. The concert is broadcast live by France Musique, which visibly does not impress the musician, whose natural charisma captures the attention from the Bach chorale, "Jesus, my joy remains," taken from the cantata BWV 147, in the version transcribed for piano by the British Myra Hess (1890-1965). Velvety sound, supple legato, mellow depth of bass, the phrasing exudes, in interiority and meditation, a vocality lacking only words.

The African-American's journey is one that almost makes you believe in miracles. Born on December 26, 1998, in New York City into a very modest single-parent family, the boy immediately stood out for his hyperactive temperament and an array of allergies, including debilitating asthma. For this type of fragile child, music has recognized therapeutic virtues. Clayton began playing the piano at the age of 7 in the basement of a dilapidated music school in Chinatown. At home, he worked on a synthesizer until the arrival of an old upright piano found on the sidewalk.

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