Living Mercy Through Music

July 3, 2026

For over four decades, Sister Anne Gallagher has been teaching music, mentoring students and building community through music in the small Clarence Valley town of  Maclean. What began with piano lessons at age seven has grown into a lifelong ministry – one that has shaped generations of musicians and positively impacted countless lives.

“I started learning the piano when I was about seven and I’m still learning,” Anne said with a laugh. “You’re always beginning something new or learning a different
instrument. We’re all beginners.”

Music was woven into Anne’s childhood. Her father played the violin, and her aunt was a music teacher. Music was also encouraged at the two Mercy schools she attended – St Joseph’s Primary School in Maclean and St Mary’s College in Grafton.

Today, Anne is best known as one of the founders of the Maclean Music Academy, which since the late 1980s has grown into a thriving musical ministry serving around 200 people each week through private lessons, choir and community music programs.

 

 

Of course, music had been taught at Maclean Convent since it’s beginning in 1898. Before entering the Sisters of Mercy, Anne trained at the Newcastle Conservatorium and worked as a high school music teacher at Maclean High School. She had always felt drawn toward religious life, inspired by one of her own music teachers who was a Sister of Mercy.

“I felt a calling of wanting to give to humanity in some way and to be an inspiration for others like I had been inspired,” she said. “Music has a way of speaking to the soul.”

Anne entered the convent in Grafton, where music quickly became part of her ministry. She taught music to novices, worked in schools, accompanied choirs, taught private students and eventually returned to Maclean in 1984 where she would spend decades teaching generations of local families. In addition to teaching and running the Academy, Anne is the driving force behind the Lower Clarence Community Choir, which attracts around 40 singers each week and for her, music is deeply connected to wellbeing, community and spirituality.

“There is an obvious connection between Mercy and music. Music can be a way to understand, connect and care for people. It can open our souls. Through music we may
find a way to share ourselves in ways we don’t do in everyday life.

“I constantly see the positive impact music has on people, including those experiencing loneliness, anxiety or depression. Some of our choir members hate it when we have a
holiday break, such is the connection they experience.”

 

 

It is no surprise then that Anne says that music continues to surprise her. In addition to teaching, she remains an active musician herself as a member of the Clarence Valley Orchestra. Last year she toured Europe with the orchestra, performing concerts in Italy, Slovenia and Austria. Earlier this year, Anne joined the orchestra to perform in outback New South Wales, with concerts in iconic places such as Broken Hill and Lightning Ridge.

 

 

In addition to the piano, Anne also plays the organ, Violin, viola, cello, flute, recorder, and guitar.

As broad as the range of instruments she plays, when asked about her favourite composer and music, she unsurprisingly has more than one.

“It changes daily,” she laughed. “I like classical music … Mozart, Elgar and many local composers. It depends on what I’m teaching and what I’m listening to. I even enjoy Jimmy Barnes because he is so engrossed in his performances – but I don’t try to emulate him!”

What remains constant, however, is her belief in the power of music to connect people. Recently, a former student she taught in 1969 reconnected with her after more than 50
years.

“I think she was just surprised I was still going,” Anne joked.

Despite her impressive musical prowess, Anne still sees herself exactly as she did when she first sat at the piano as a child: “I’ve always been a beginner!”