Carrying the
Tune Onward
She has championed music education in schools for nearly
six decades. Today, her mission is more important than ever.
F
irst, it was MoTown, disco, and rock ‘n’ roll; then, it was hip-hop, boy bands,
and grunge; today, it’s something called EDM.
Sister Lauretta Linsalata has seen a lot of trends come and go during her time as an AOPS
music teacher. The same is true of her pupils — she’s helped thousands of students understand
and appreciate the magic of song.
But one thing that has never wavered over her nearly 60-year career is her core mission:
sustaining thriving, top-notch music programs across all AOPS schools.
It’s an objective that has traveled with her across multiple locations and positions. Sr.
Lauretta began her career in 1960 as an elementary music teacher at St. Joseph Parish
in Coatesville, PA. She continued building experience at Bonner & Prendergast
Catholic High School, Little Flower Catholic High School for Girls, and Archbishop
Ryan High School.
Today, Sr. Lauretta is chairperson of the Visual and Performing Arts committee for
all AOPS high schools, as well as the music technology teacher at Archbishop
Ryan. In a time when music programs are facing mounting challenges, she
is a strident proponent of making arts and music education accessible to
today’s students on their terms.
In Sr. Lauretta’s music technology course, for instance, students
learn to use programs and apps like GarageBand and Practica
Musica to learn music theory. Her classes recently took part in an
interactive project in which they used iMovie to research, film,
and edit fictional interviews with famous composers.
“The technology keeps changing, so I have to keep up to date
myself,” Sr. Lauretta says. “It’s exciting because it’s not just me
— a lot of times, the students will discover things on their own
and show me. I learn a lot from them as well.”
Sr. Lauretta maintains a similarly open perspective when it
comes to her students’ preferred genres of music.
8
One thing that has never wavered over Sr.
Lauretta’s nearly 60-year career is her core
mission: sustaining thriving, top-notch music
programs across all AOPS schools.