For 18-year-old piano prodigy John Seymour, the path to fulfilling his musical dreams hasn’t come easy.“I have ambitions to do very great things in music,” he told The Royal Gazette.However, he admitted: “I’ve had educational struggles. Other than music, I was in trouble a few times in school. But going through those obstacles in high school and outside school, I learned that education plays a big part in your future. If you don’t have it, you’re not going to get anywhere.”The son of singer Greg Seymour of the band Burning Ice, John was taught how to play the piano by his older brother Jesse.He gradually “fell in love with music” under the tutelage of Eddie Berkeley at the First Church of God on North Shore. Gospel provided the foundation for his musical development.However, after dropping out of CedarBridge Academy and finishing his GED through the Adult Education School, it was John’s dream to attend the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.The world-famous institute for contemporary music at first seemed an impossible hope. Despite that, he applied nowhere else.“Going to Berklee has been a dream of mine since I found out that I actually could make a career out of music,” he said. “A lot of people said, ‘oh man, school’s expensive, it’s a lot of hard work.’”He received his acceptance letter a few weeks ago.“I was at church and my mother mentioned there was a letter at home,” he said. “I’d been looking in the mailbox every day, so I said I was going home to check right then. My mother said she’d been just playing with me because she didn’t want me to leave church. When I opened that letter and saw I’d been accepted, I cried. I didn’t think it was possible. There are over 4,000 applications each year, and Berklee takes only 900. I got in.”John’s interest in music ranges from jazz to classical but he keeps true to his gospel roots.“I love Ray Charles, the way he composed and it was a big thing for me when I read that Ray Charles owned the rights to his own music. He opened the door for many black musicians.”Once he has completed the Berklee Masters programme, which will furnish him with a solid grounding in music production, John hopes to pursue a bachelor’s degree at the acclaimed Juilliard School.“I could see myself working in places like New York or Los Angeles but I would like to come back to Bermuda to help others in music, because I’ve been given the opportunity of a lifetime,” he said.Currently in his last year with the youth arts group Troika, John is stewarding members through their first-ever musical this August. Auditions are planned for June 9 at the Berkeley Institute.And a busy summer lies ahead, as his parents prepare to open a restaurant, The Flame, overlooking the North Shore near their home.John’s mother, Jennifer Seymour, will handle the cuisine.“I’ll probably start a band in there,” he added.Eagerly anticipating his studies at Berklee, John may study under gospel legend Dennis Montgomery, an assistant professor at the school.“He’s probably one of the best organ players there is,” the Devonshire teen said.Looking back on his struggle with the question ‘where do I go from here?’, John’s advice is: “For young people who have a vision or see themselves doing something, I can only say don’t listen to what people have to say about not being able to do it. I know anything is possible, especially if you put your mind to it and have faith. I have done a lot of praying on this, and music is what I want to do for the rest of my life.”