Mar 16, 2018 4 min read

When Emily Lapisardi’s husband, Cody Knotts, found an ad posted on the internet for the position of music director of the Catholic Chapel at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., she didn’t think her chances of getting the job were all that good.

Although the Blainsburg native has a bachelor of arts degree in vocal music from West Virginia University and a master’s degree in sacred music from Duquesne University, she didn’t start playing the organ until 2008. Thinking she didn’t have the requisite credentials for the position, which required a lot of time on the organ, she applied anyway, largely to humor her husband.

While out shopping on Black Friday in November, she got a call from the academy telling her she had been hired, pending a security clearance. On Jan. 26, Lapisardi started a new chapter in her career at West Point that has her playing for all the services at the Catholic Chapel, rehearsing the choir and planning the liturgies in cooperation with the Catholic chaplain.

“It’s been a busy first few weeks, and I like the job very much,” said Lapisardi, 34. “It’s a regular 40-hour-a-week position. However, with Monday and Wednesday off each week, I don’t enjoy a typical weekend or two consecutive days off.”

Besides leading 7 p.m. choir rehearsals every Tuesday, she’s already traveled with the 40-member Catholic Cadet Choir to Easton in February, where they performed three concerts at St. Rocco’s parish. She also played the organ at her first funeral, an Episcopal service, held in the Old Chapel, one of four on the post.

She played for a confirmation ceremony and Mass during the visit of Timothy Broglio, archbishop for military services.

“At the Mass, the choir sang some special pieces, and several cadets played brass and wind instruments during a special liturgy,” Lapisardi said.

Since she arrived on post, Lapisardi discovered that the cadets in the choir are very busy, and that she has to do a lot in the short time allotted to rehearsal.

“Practice starts at 7 p.m., and the cadets have to be back in their rooms by 8:30,” she said. “The further along in their advancement, the busier they are. I learned that I have to recruit plebes (freshmen) into the choir because they have a little more time and a greater ability to participate.”

Lapisardi said she never knows how many in the choir will show up for services, but is fortunate that lay people from the community can also be members.

“This is a great help in maintaining continuity,” she said.

The Moller organ at the Catholic Chapel dates back to the early 1960s and, according to Lapisardi, has been very well maintained. The academy employs two full-time organ curators who maintain the organs in all four of the academy chapels.

“While the organ in the Catholic Chapel is not as large as the one in the Cadet Chapel, it’s well-suited to the room,” she said.

Along with her husband, her 18-month-old son, Nathaniel, and her stepson, Nicholas, 18, Lapisardi lives in a townhouse on the post. She said she’s able to walk to work but hasn’t done so much because of the cold, wet New York weather, coupled with bouts of heavy fog from the nearby Hudson River.

“Moving to West Point has been an adjustment for the entire family,” she said. “Nathaniel is at an age where he gets into everything, and I leave him in the care of my husband and stepson. He used to see his grandparents in Blainsburg quite frequently, and it’s been an adjustment for him to be away from them.”

The entire family has West Point identification, which they show every time they enter or exit the post.

As to the surrounding area, Lapisardi said it abounds in history, especially Revolutionary War history. As yet, she hasn’t been able to indulge her interest in the region’s bounty of historic landmarks and places, but intends to start exploring the area this spring.

“I had never before been to the Hudson Valley before I applied for the job,” she said. “Now that I’m here, I find it very beautiful.”

Prior to taking the position at West Point, Lapisardi was the music director at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Uniontown from 2011 to 2014, and assumed the same position in 2014 at St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Greensburg.