Alissa Musto

Alissa Musto was born May 31, 1995 in Providence RI. She is an American singer and child pianist.

She is the winner of the 2007 New England Performs Competition, a regional talent competition. She hold the 2008 championship title for RI's Got Talent where she beat out adults. When she was 9 years old, she was on the national televsion show "America;s Most Talented Kids". she will sing the National Anthem at a 2009 Paw Sox Game.

"I know I'll always play," she says. "But it's too early to think about what I might do with it."

Early Performances

Alissa started taking piano lessons at the age of 5. She quickly caught on and started performing at local Nursing homes for the residents. She won many local piano competitions and most of the times, dispite her age was put in the older division competitions. Because she was only six at the time of her first competition win, she had to carry a block to reach the sustain pedal. At this paticular competition she played "Prelude in a minor", Minute in G and Moonlight Sonata.

The Father the Daughter and The Music

One of the many written articles about Alissa Musto ( taken from the Providence Journal)

You gotta love the way this kid sings.

Like Britney Spears maybe? Please. The mere mention of the pop diva makes Alisa Musto wince as if confronted with a plate of spoiled food.

No, give her Sinatra. Give her the songs that have some pedigree, some staying power.

And give her a room to work. Put her at the keyboard and let her sing those great songs and maybe throw her foot up on the keys with that Jerry Lee Lewis move her father, Billy, taught her.

I saw her a few weeks ago, and she lit up the place. At one point, she shifted from Mozart to The Big Bopper.

Charming, said people in the audience. Delightful. One woman asked if she could hug her.

It was the first time I had seen her since last summer in Rehoboth, and she's just getting better. There's no telling what she might do when she gets older -- say 12, maybe 13. But that's years down the road.

Right now, she's got the pipes and she's got presence and she's ready to take them on the road.

And, of course, she's got her father, her musical sidekick who does the driving and makes the introductions.

Sometimes, daughter reaches over father in a cross-armed piano duet. They play alongside each other and off each other.

"It's what we do at the house every night," says Musto. "We love it."

A little family history is in order here. Alisa Musto has some strong musical lines to follow.

Billy Musto was once Billy of Billy and the Kids, a very good rock band that played a lot of clubs in and around Rhode Island. Now, he plays more subdued venues, including the Coast Guard House in Narragansett on Friday and Saturday nights.

Billy's brother, Jimmy, is a percussionist who has performed with the New York Philharmonic.

The Mustos' uncles, George and Tommy Tanous, have been making great music for decades. George even tried to teach me the clarinet once, but we both agreed that Benny Goodman I was not.

And now Alisa, at 9, takes up the family musical tradition. She started playing piano when she was 5. She started listening to good music in a house filled with music long before that.

"I know I'll always play," she says. "But it's too early to think about what I might do with it."

Right now, it's just flat out fun. It's fun to travel with her father. They can remember the times wheh he'd be leaving the house in Rehoboth for a gig and she'd want to go with him.

Now, sometimes, she does.

I last saw the Mustos at the Elmhurst Extended Care Center in Providence a few weeks ago. It's the kind of place they like to play. They can show up in the afternoon, after school at St. Mary Academy-Bay View.

And Alisa Musto, with her long blond hair and solid musical roots, sits down at the keyboard and reaches across a generation or three with songs learned at the piano back home.

The room fills. So does the hallway.

She opens with a little Bach. Then she and her father move all over the musical landscape. There is pop, classical, jazz.

She plays alone. Her father eventually joins in. Then she goes to check out the parakeet in a nearby room while Billy takes over.

It's a fine afternoon. And when it's over, the 9-year-old singer and piano player begins the other part of going on the road -- breaking down the equipment and heading for the car.

If you want to see her, you don't have to go anywhere. Alisa Musto will perform on America's Most Talented Kids on the PAX Network Sunday night at 7.

America's Most Talented Kids

In February of 2005, Alissa made her debute on national television "America's Most Talented Kids". She performed a medley of Mozart and Jerry lee Lewis. Although the judging did not rule in her favor, she later was chosen to shoot a commercial advertising the TV show. The host was Dave Coulier from Full House.

RI's Got Talent

In August 2008, Alissa won the championship title for RI's Got Talent. This was a huge honor considering over 500 people auditionedfrom across New Engalnd. There were 18 finalists which she beat out, including several adults. She performed "Travelling Band Medley”, an arrangement she composed with her father that incorporated Creedence Clearwater Revival, Chopin, Mozart & Beethoven. Ms. Musto took home the $1,000 cash prize and will sing the National Anthem at a 2009 Pawtucket Red Sox Game. Charlie Hall of Ocean State Follies hosted the event. The judges were as followed:

• Matt Roberts, Professional Performer & The on-court emcee for the WNBA’s #1 team

• Lawrence Lepore, Event Manager for Ogden Entertainment at the Providence Civic Center

• Patrick Little, Sports Director at WPRI Channel 12