PETER Gasparin said he’d “be dead without music”.
The 18-year-old singer and organist is a pivotal part of the worship team and choir at St Joseph’s Parish, Stanthorpe, in Toowoomba diocese.
When he’s not contributing musically or singing with The Granite Belt Choir, Peter finds time to promote and sell church organs.
He also works for a local funeral director.
There’s the family’s pig farm, too – that keeps the on-the-go teenager close to home.
Peter’s musical contribution to his parish, St Joseph’s School, and to the local community, earned him this year’s Australia Day Junior Cultural Award from the Southern Downs Regional Council.
Finding time to reflect before playing for a Vigil Mass this month, Peter spoke about his passion to encourage other young people to participate in the life of the Church.
“We are so lucky in the Catholic faith,” he said.
“Our music repertoire is so broad.
“We have traditional music – songs like ‘All Creatures of Our God and King’ – right through to the more contemporary stuff.
“Young people should embrace this and be involved with music at church.”
Peter said he had been “in awe” of Director of Music at St Stephen’s Cathedral, Brisbane, Dr Ralph Morton.
“There’s a difference between playing and accompanying the Mass,” Peter said.
“Ralph doesn’t just play, he’s feeling what the Mass is meant to be.
“It’s inspiring.”
Peter only began learning the organ after World Youth Day in 2008.
He said Dr Morton’s brother Graeme, Pat Keady, of emmanuelworship, and other musicians in Brisbane and Stanthorpe had inspired him.
Peter said it was “divine intervention” that he began to be interested in music in this way at all.
“When I found out how much digital church organs cost, the idea of playing went ‘down the (drain)’,” Peter said.
“(But) I was lucky someone (in Stanthorpe) had an old organ … (and) in 2010 the church choir gave me money to learn the piano.
“I’ve now passed the Grade Five exam, am undertaking Grade Six piano and plan to be a piano teacher.”
St Joseph’s introduction of Peter’s “dream piano” was also divine.
“I built up enough courage to ask (Stanthorpe parish priest) Fr Brian (Connolly) to get a new Clavinova,” Peter said.
“Unbeknownst to me, just before I entered, he’d opened a letter from a solicitor.
“The letter was about someone leaving five thousand dollars to the parish.
“The organ cost three thousand, seven hundred dollars – so when I came in and asked, Father said yes straight away.
“I thought he was joking around.”
The parish bought a new piano following Peter’s request, and a new digital Allen organ after its old one “blew up in a storm”.
Peter said he was also impressed by how the Clavinova and other organs were “accurate to the sound of a real pipe organ”.
“There’s a misconception that the organ is old-fashioned,” he said.
“(But) you can make them sound contemporary.”
Peter wasn’t only inspired by individuals but also by listening to the organs played at World Youth Day events in Sydney, and by participating in last year’s Ignite Conference in Brisbane.
“World Youth Day completely reinforced my faith,” he said.
“Quite often, when you come from a small country town, young people feel like they are the only ones (practising the faith).
“Going to WYD08 and Ignite helped me to realise there really are a lot of us and we all have the fire of the Holy Spirit.”
Peter’s message to young people who might be “in the pews” and are interested or unsure about contributing musically to their parish is to “get out there and give it a go”.
“Mary MacKillop said, ‘Never see a need without doing something about it’,” he said.
“(And) even though we have wonderful organists here (in Stanthorpe), I saw that they needed someone to help them.
“God really wanted me to play in church.
“Everything really fell into my hands.”
