At 16 years old most teenage boys are on a field playing sport or playing video games but Haitian-American Sebastian Gisgard Pierre is doing the opposite. The New York resident born to Haitian immigrant parents is a living testament that with hard work and determination, the American Dream is definitely attainable. Sebastian is a pianist whose talents have propelled him to earn a space to perform at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall after winning the Crescendo International Music Competition 2014.

Sebastian has worked tirelessly to make his family and his community proud. A devout student of the piano, Sebastian’s passion for music began at the age of three thanks to his father, accomplished pianist, trombonist and organist, Dr. Phedy Pierre.

“Music is an integral part of our lives and when Sebastian was born I knew that his musical roots were well planted thanks to my father, his uncle and me, hence it wasn’t difficult to introduce him to classical music,” says Dr. Pierre

Sebastian also began studying the violin at the age of four and the trumpet at the age of six, but it is his prowess for the ivory keys that brought him to win first place honors in the Crescendo International Music Competition for Classic Piano.

This Eastern Christian High School student introduced himself to New York’s famed classical community on Sunday, February 15th at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall.

As part of a talented family, Sebastian is a member of the sextet, Sacred Strings with his father, sister, uncle and two cousins, and also shares his gifts as a member of the Bergen Youth Orchestra and Horns of Praise. Dedicated to pursuing a career in medicine to become a physician, Sebastian has already begun to shadow surgeons and anesthesiologists during the summer at Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, New York. His devotion to community service also keeps him busy at the First Seventh-day Adventist Church of Teaneck in New Jersey, Hempstead Seventh-day Adventist Church in Long Island and at Yonkers Seventh-day Adventist Church, as well. – [Source]

Sebastian is a true testament of how anyone from humble beginnings can persevere and march on to live the American Dream that hundreds of thousands of immigrants come to this country to achieve.