Deidre Brown

"I come from a Celtic background—Irish, English and Welsh—so I was surely bound to be a music lover! I was influenced by my father, a well-educated pianist and singer as well as a writer and lover of p…"

"My faith was nurtured by the nuns’ witness to Jesus and their authenticity. Boarding school life was, besides being a lot of fun, an oblique way of observing the religious life of a nun. Each morning …"

"My violin and piano teacher, Mother Lua Byrne ibvm, was a great influence. She was a very fresh-faced, smiling woman, intelligent and kind, and drew the best out of her students. She always had that s…"

"I had a friend called Joan MacKerras, the sister of the famous international musician and conductor Sir Charles MacKerras (deceased). Even though she didn’t attend the school, Joan received lessons fr…"

"Despite the fascination of a life in music, particularly as an orchestral player, I felt a deeper call to religious life. During my boarding school years, as mystifying as the sisters’ vocation seemed…"

"I wasn’t quite 18 years old when I joined the Novitiate in Ballarat. In 1957, my first mission was teaching in a kindergarten in Brisbane. I taught nearly everything through the piano, including numbe…"

"By 1974, I was missioned to Loreto College, Brisbane, in leadership and administration. During this time, I learnt and experienced the richness of parish community and liturgical prayer. I travelled t…"

"On my return to Australia in 1985, a 12-year period of teaching in two institutions commenced—Mercy Teachers’ College (later Australian Catholic University) and Yarra Theological Union. In both, I wro…"