Emerging young musician recognised

By Catherine Sheehan

At the recent APMN (Australian Pastoral Musicians Network) National Conference held from 1-3 October in Adelaide, young musician Simon MacFarlane received an award for emerging pastoral musicians.

The 17-year-old Kingston-Channel parishioner said winning the award had boosted his confidence and would help make his name as a pastoral musician more well known. “It gave me a lot of confidence that what I’m doing has some benefit,” he said.

Simon, who sings and plays guitar, leads the music at Mass in his parish every first Sunday of the month, along with a group of his friends. He has also performed praise and worship music at various events including the Life to the Full Conference in 2024.

“Music is a very powerful thing in and of itself,” he said. “Everyone over the world listens to music and responds to music.

“I think that beauty can help reveal God to younger people, especially if they aren’t as interested in the fancy words of the mass or having really intense theological and philosophical debates.”

The Year 11 student said he would like to join NET (National Evangelisation Team) after he finishes school and then become a professional musician. Congratulations Simon!