‘Never give up’: A man’s journey from homeless shelter to Carnegie Hall

Elijah Stevens is one man who has refused to take no for an answer throughout life, and he’s faced his fair share of rejection.

Growing up in Freeport, Grand Bahama, his family struggled financially, but early on, he discovered a gift he didn’t know he had.

“When I was nine years old, the church my family belonged to was in need of a pianist for services, so I tried out,” Stevens told CityNews’ Speakers Corner. “It turned out I had a thing for music, and I fell in love with the piano as soon as I started.”

That love became a passion, one he wanted to pursue on a global level.

“I knew I had to go abroad to study, but I did not have the financial means to do that.”

Stevens wanted to study piano at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Fla.

“I had applied for various national scholarships in the Bahamas to get funding for that opportunity. I was denied all six national scholarships,” he explained.

Stevens reached out to the university’s faculty, which had its own scholarship program. The problem was that he needed to physically get to Florida to attend an audition.

“My family could not pay for that, so I earned enough money to travel, packed everything I had and left with $100 in my pocket, not knowing if I would actually earn the scholarship.”

After attending the audition, Stevens awaited the news

“It was three days that I was waiting, and around the second day, I got a message from my mom telling me, ‘Okay, that’s enough. You tried, but it didn’t work out. It’s time to come back home,'” Stevens said. “And I told her I’m not leaving until I see this through.”

His patience paid off. He was accepted and received a scholarship to study piano, eventually graduating with a degree.

“I was the first person in my family to have graduated from school and had a very successful career there. One of my most notable achievements was that the White House and the U.S. Department of Education recognized me for outstanding academics, civic engagement, and leadership,” Stevens said.

He wanted to go further by studying under world-renowned pianist Olga Kern.

“I fell in love with her playing, and then I saw she would be teaching at The Manhattan School of Music,” he noted. “I told myself I had to study there and did everything I could to make it happen. But I couldn’t even pay for the application.”

He began giving piano lessons to earn some money while in Florida, and then, much like he had done before, he made a decision.

“I just packed everything and left.”

A 16-hour drive to New York

Stevens headed for New York and walked into the school’s administration office, begging to meet with decision-makers.

“I went straight to the office, where the dean was, and I told her my story, and she was flush with tears,” Stevens revealed. “But she told me the ultimate decision was up to the Chair of Piano.”

The Chair rejected Stevens’ request.

“He said no and told me I would have to wait and try again for the next year. I was really crushed.”

But Stevens, no stranger to rejection, wouldn’t give up.

“I wouldn’t leave New York. At first, I was staying in my car, and then I ended up losing my car because I couldn’t make the payments, which led me into the homeless shelter system, where I stayed for seven months,” Stevens said.

He called that experience crushing.

“Everyone there is at their lowest point, and it was a really depressing atmosphere. But I just kept telling myself, ‘This is what I have to do to get to where I want to go.'”

Stevens taught piano lessons while homeless

While staying in the shelter, he tried to earn as much money as possible by giving piano lessons to help him pay the application and audition fee.

“I went through the process again, and finally, I was accepted into the school,” he revealed.

But then came the following challenge: finding out how to afford tuition fees of more than $60,000 USD.

Stevens said he performed two concerts in the Bahamas to raise some of the money. The tuition was about $65,000 USD, and he raised about $16,000 USD, which enabled him to start the first semester.

“I spent one semester with Kern, a dream come true. It was really everything that I wanted and so much more,” Stevens acknowledged.

But with dwindling funds, he could not afford to stay.

“I was literally escorted out of the dormitories and off of the campus,” he admitted,

Deflated, he was about to give up on his dream.

“That was another low point for me emotionally and spiritually. I felt paralyzed for almost two years. I didn’t want to work with anyone else, and I didn’t want to study anywhere else. I just felt stuck.”

How Stevens’ passion for music refused to subside

“I felt like God, some might call it the universe, was telling me just to try again,” he said. “I began considering options abroad, outside of the U.S., and I thought of Canada.”

While at Bethune-Cookman University, Stevens recalled a master class he attended with Canadian-Israeli pianist Michael Berkovsky, a faculty member at The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.

“I reached out to him and asked him about it, and he said I should just apply.”

Stevens not only got in, he was offered a nearly full scholarship.

“It’s been a dream come true. Being at the Glenn Gould School, part of the Royal Conservatory, has been amazing. I’m surrounded by brilliant faculty and staff, and the students are talented,” he said.

With a renewed passion and backing from his training at the conservatory, Stevens completed the ultimate full circle. After entering a competition, a man once homeless on the streets of New York City was invited to play on the biggest stage in the city: Carnegie Hall.

“Carnegie Hall is one of the greatest halls in the world, and when I won the competition and went there to play, it was surreal. I couldn’t believe it,” he said.

Stevens’ family from the Bahamas came to watch him, and he was staying at a rented condo unit next door to the shelter he had once called home years before.

“All that was on my mind; I was like, wow, this is where I came from. This is where I was, and look at me now.“

Stevens will finish his studies at the Royal Conservatory and has accepted a full scholarship at a university in the U.S. He hopes his story inspires others to pursue their dreams at all costs, even when faced with rejection.

“People should embrace it because it’s all a part of the journey. It’s all a part of you becoming who you are meant to be. And it’s all a part of how you get to places like Carnegie.”

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