Dear Editor: I was so saddened to learn of the death of Sister Mary Cecilia Giannitti, a Sister of St. Joseph for 72 years. An accomplished musician, she opened the door to classical music to thousands upon thousands of Catholic high school teenagers for many years.

Sister Cecilia created a Glee Club at Fontbonne Hall in Bay Ridge that won every citywide competition it entered. She demanded perfection and got it. For those of us who did not make the Glee Club, but liked to sing, she created a Chorus of voices comprising hundreds of students.

Thanks to Sister Cecilia’s endless patience, we 13-year olds learned to read music, discovered Mozart and within a few months could sing Handel’s Messiah with the best of them. I will forever be grateful to Sister Cecilia for the beauty she brought into our lives.

By far my fondest memory of Sister Cecilia is her teaching us to sing the magnificent “Sanctus” from St. Cecilia’s Mass, by Gounod.

That Sanctus is rarely performed outside of a concert hall these days, but I recently heard it sung by Kiri Te Kanawa, on YouTube.

As for Sister Cecilia, I have no doubt that by now, she is conducting the angelic choir and tapping very gently on her baton, when they go wrong.

Grazie, dear Sister Cecilia and Requiescat in Pace.

KATHLEEN MURPHY

Brooklyn