Margaret Harper is appointed director of music for Trinity Episcopal Church, Princeton, New Jersey. For the last five years, Harper has served as associate director of music and organist at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, Dallas, Texas. At St. Michael, her primary task was to create a new chorister program in the model of the Royal School of Church Music–America. Along with the church’s staff of three organists and four choir directors, she helped to develop the music department, expanded the concert series, and created a music appreciation curriculum for members of the parish who wanted to learn more about sacred music.
Before moving to Dallas, Harper served as director of music and liturgy at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Portsmouth, New Hampshire. While at St. John’s, she founded an after-school program for at-risk youth, the Choir School at St. John’s. Within its first few years, the choir school had reached its capacity with a waiting list and gained several accolades, including an invitation to sing and premiere a newly commissioned work at the Newburyport Chamber Music Festival. At St. John’s, Harper also doubled the size of the adult choir.
For the 2022–2023 academic year, Harper was visiting lecturer of organ at Baylor University, Waco, Texas. She has previously taught organ, harpsichord, and keyboard skills at the University of Southern Maine and the Eastman School of Music. Harper holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree and a performer’s certificate from Eastman. She has a passion for new music and has presented premiere performances of works by composers including Cecilia McDowall, George Baker, Philip Moore, Todd Wilson, and others. She serves in leadership roles for the Association of Anglican Musicians, the Royal School of Church Music–America, and the American Guild of Organists. Harper performs and tours as an organist, harpsichordist, and conductor, and is on the roster of Concert Artist Cooperative.
For information: trinityprinceton.org.
David Baskeyfield to Greenville, North Carolina
