12-year-old is more than just a singer

East Meadow's Alyssa Pallotta is a star in the making

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Alyssa Pallotta is not yet a teenager, but she has already performed at some of the most recognizable sports venues in New York in front of thousands of people. The 12-year-old made her sporting events debut two years ago while performing the national anthem at a Long Island Ducks game, and since then, she has performed at Madison Square Garden, Citifield, and at SUNY Old Westbury sporting events and Brooklyn Cyclones games.

The talented singer has lived in East Meadow since 2005, having moved there from Bellmore with her parents, Shane and Mara, and her sister, Abigail, 10.

In addition to singing at sporting events, Alyssa also performs locally. Heavily involved in local theatre, Alyssa has participated in productions of Annie and The Sound of Music, and in December she will be playing the starring role in Seussical the Musical, as the Cat in the Hat.

On top of that, Alyssa has also served as a cantor during mass at Sacred Heart Church in North Merrick.

But of all of her performances, Alyssa said she enjoys singing at sporting events the most. “I like singing the national anthem more than doing a show because you get more spotlight,” she said.

On Nov. 13, Alyssa was invited to sing the national anthem for the St. John’s University basketball team’s home opener in Queens. Though a seasoned veteran at age 12, Alyssa said the performance was one of the first ones where she did not become nervous. “This time I felt much more confident,” she said. “Even though in the back of my mind I know there’s no way I can forget the words, there’s always this little nagging fear.”

“It was more fun to sing because I wasn’t scared,” she added. “I think it was one of the better ones.”

Alyssa is a seventh-grader at the Holy Child Academy, a private Catholic school in Westbury. Aside from singing and acting, she is also a skilled artist and writer, and spends a lot of her free time writing stories and poetry. “She’s very creative, very artsy,” said Shane, who added that she inherited it from her mother, who is also a talented artist.

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