Thursday, March 27, 2025
Years of mastering the piano have paid off for Levittown’s Felicia Garramone, who won a first place diploma in the prestigious Andrey Stoyanov International Piano Competition in Sofia, Bulgaria, in November.
Garramone, 16, a junior at General Douglas MacArthur High School in the Levittown school district, has played piano since she was 4 years old. In the years since, she has taken part in New York State School Music Association competitions, and even performed with the All-State Orchestra at Carnegie Hall when she was in eighth grade.
The Andrey Stoyanov competition, held annually in Sofia, draws young pianists from around the world.
“It was a mix of emotions,” Garramone said of her win. “I was shocked at first, but then I was really overjoyed, because I was happy that all my hours that I spent working on piano really paid off.”
The competition, named for the Bulgarian pianist and composer Andrey Stoyanov, took place Nov. 14-17 at the Community and Cultural Center and the National Music Academy Hall in Sofia. Garramone competed in the 15-to-19 age group against 16 other performers, and her performance earned first place in the category.
In preparation for the competition, she said, she practiced two to four hours a day on piano, playing her pieces slowly in order to memorize them. An additional challenge, she noted, was overcoming the nerves she had while in the company of other talented pianists.
“I took a few deep breaths, and just had to remind myself, ‘It’s OK, it’s just a competition,’” Garramone recounted. “I practiced a bit in a quiet room, and after that I just went out and was like, OK, I got this.”
Garramone has been in the Levittown district’s orchestra since third grade. Though this is the first year her orchestra teacher, Sha Wu, has worked with her, Wu said that Garramone’s win inspires the orchestra, because it’s good to see a young musician show maturity and succeed.
“I’m very proud of her,” Wu said. “It’s great to see my students earn this kind of achievement.”
MacArthur Principal Joseph Sheehan said that the district, too, was proud of Garramone’s accomplishment, and that she is an exceptional student who displays both intellectual curiosity and a remarkable work ethic.
“She constantly demonstrates outstanding character, and possesses a musical talent that is truly exemplary,” Sheehan said.
Garramone credits her private music teacher since sixth grade, Veselin Ninov, for shaping her as a performer. A native of Bulgaria himself, Ninov introduced her to the competition and encouraged her to enter.
“He definitely influenced the way I’ve played,” Garramone noted. “I don’t think I’d be able to be as good as a player.”
Piano isn’t Garramone’s only musical talent. She has played cello since third grade, and was selected for All-County and Long Island String Festival Association programs throughout elementary school. In her sophomore year, she earned a spot in the All-State Orchestra, which performed in Rochester last December.
She practices both instruments every day, she said, and while she tries not to favor one over the other, but admits that she prefers the piano, because she has been playing it longer.
After high school, Garramone hopes to double major in biology and music in college. She hasn’t decided where she’ll go, but said that Northwestern University, in Evanston, Illinois, is her dream campus.
“I really want to stay with music, because it’s something that I really love,” she said. “I just can’t stop doing it.”
