Barbara Hagerman, a longtime Summerside music teacher and performer, will be Prince Edward Island's new lieutenant-governor, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Wednesday.

Hagerman received the confirmation in a call from the prime minister.

Barbara Hagerman believes her experience as a performer will help her in her duties as P.E.I.'s lieutenant-governor.
Barbara Hagerman believes her experience as a performer will help her in her duties as P.E.I.'s lieutenant-governor.
(CBC: Randy McAndrew)
"I told him what an honour it was to talk to him, and what an honour it would be to come into this office, and how I was confident that I could do a good job," the new appointee told CBC News on Wednesday.

"I knew that a lot of the people that know me would be very happy."

In a news release, Harper praised Hagerman's contributions to the musical community on Prince Edward Island.

"Barbara Hagerman is a talented musician who, in her role as teacher and performer, has made a considerable contribution to Prince Edward Island," said Harper.

"Over the decades, she has demonstrated the level of dedication and commitment needed for this important position."

'I've always been in the public.'-Barbara Hagerman

Hagerman has been a music teacher in Summerside and Charlottetown, and served as a vocal soloist with the P.E.I. Symphony Orchestra. For 17 years, she conducted the Summerside Community Choir, which under her leadership toured the Maritimes and on one occasion performed at New York City's Carnegie Hall.

Hagerman believes her experience as a performer will help her in her duties as lieutenant-governor.

"Being in the music business of course I've always been in the public," she said.

"I think I was probably in Grade 3 when I started singing solos in public, and then with the choir work that I do, I'm always standing in front of audiences. So I'm very comfortable and I think I can bring that to the position at Fanningbank."

Hagerman's husband, Nelson Hagerman, is a longtime Tory backroom organizer.

Hagerman, who is the second woman appointed as lieutenant-governor in P.E.I., will take office at the end of this month.

She succeeds J. Léonce Bernard, who held the position since 2001.