Alysia Ladner currently serves as the Music Director for Our Lady of the Gulf Catholic Church. She grew up singing in the choir at St. Joseph Catholic Churchin Pearlington, Mississippi,under the direction of Mrs. Yvonne Vigurie. She played French horn for six years in middle and high school band and sang in the high school choir and with the jazz band. Alysia received a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1999 and taught 5th and 6th grades at East Hancock Elementary for three years. After marrying Curt Ladner III at Our Lady of the Gulf in 2000, they began attending Annunciation Catholic Church in Kiln, and Alysia joined the choir there.
Early in the course of their 17 years at Annunciation, Alysia and Curt were in the Life Teen band and served in youth ministry. Alysia served for three years as Director of Religious Education until hurricane Katrina in 2005. In 2014, at the request of Fr. John Noone, Alysia organized a children's choir which sang at Mass once a month. Over the years she has also served when called upon to sing at funerals and weddings.Alysia continues to study and grow in understanding of the Church's beautiful teachings on Sacred Music.Curt and Alysia have seven children whom they have homeschooled using Mother of Divine Grace School.
Monica Ladner currently serves as pianist/organist at Our Lady of the Gulf. She is the second oldest of Alysia's seven children. From a very young age she had a natural gift for music, and began teaching herself to play piano and violin by ear. In August of 2017, Monica began taking piano lessons under the excellent direction of Mrs. Carol Mahler of Hidden Acres Music School in Pass Christian. In her first year of piano instruction, she received superior scores at the 49th Annual Bach Festival and the Gulf Coast Music Teachers Association Festival, and was a District Winner of the National Piano Playing Auditions. Monica graduated Mother of Divine Grace School in 2021 and is currently studying Culinary Arts.