Ms. Angela Harrington moved to Wilmington in 1986. Born and raised in much colder Eden Prairie, Minnesota, she never looked back.
She attended the University of North Carolina in Wilmington and earned a degree in Environmental Studies with a concentration in biology. Sadly, she did not pursue any music in college. After college, she worked for the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission at a warm water fish hatchery in Pender County.
Ms. Harrington quit her job after two and a half years and had three children. When her children were young, she started to attend St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Castle Hayne, NC. She and a few young mothers started a "folk" group and began playing for Masses at St. Stanislaus. They also sang at St. Therese Catholic Church in Wrightsville Beach under Fr. Gene Grabowski. This venture turned into a career!
In 2006, Fr. Walter Ospina hired Ms. Harrington to coordinate the music at St. Therese. She would spend 10 years of her life there, building a music program from scratch. She formed a small choir, hired the best musicians in Wilmington (David Lee Heinzman - Little Chapel on the Boardwalk and Dr. Elizabeth Loparits - UNCW Music Faculty), purchased new hymnals and even a brand new digital three manual Allen organ. With little formal music or liturgical education, Fr. Joe Vetter encouraged Ms. Harrington to spread her wings. He sent her to St. Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Indiana to attend the Rensselaer Program for Church Music and Liturgy. Ms. Harrington earned a master's degree in Pastoral Liturgy and Music by attending each summer for 4 years. Her thesis paper is titled, Cremation in the Catholic Funeral.
Ms. Harrington left St. Therese in 2016 and accepted a job as choir director at St. Matthew Lutheran Church. In 2017, Ms. Harrington accepted the position of Director of Music and Liturgy at St. Mark.