For Katherine Powell, music has been a constant companion throughout her life. Now, years after first walking through the gates of St Joseph’s Secondary School as a student and leading its Mass choir, the 25-year-old has returned to the school — this time as a music teacher, helping a new generation of students discover the same love for music that has shaped her own journey.
Growing up in Suva with her parents and siblings, Powell says she was surrounded by the music of her parents’ generation, particularly the classics from the 1960s onwards.
“Old music changed the way I saw life,” she said.
“It offers perspective, challenges my mind, and challenges my playing and speed of thinking.”
Music has never been something she deliberately set out to pursue as a career. Instead, it has remained a constant thread throughout her life, appearing in different ways as she moved through school, work, and different stages of her journey.
She found herself naturally drawn to singing, playing guitar, and exploring other instruments. Music also gave her a creative way of hearing and imagining things, with certain sounds immediately bringing songs to mind.
Her memory for music has even become a source of humour, especially when she recognises a song in an unexpected sound and decides to share the joke with whoever happens to be nearby.
Her musical journey began taking shape during her years at St Marcellin Primary School in Vatuwaqa, Suva, which she attended from 2006 to 2013. In 2013, she performed as a musician for the school’s Golden Jubilee.
She then attended St Joseph’s Secondary School from 2014 to 2018, where she led the Mass choir.
Little did she know then that years later she would return to the same school, this time as a member of staff, and once again help students through music.
After high school, Powell worked across a few different areas. She started with Counterstroke Fiji in 2019, doing stroke awareness and working with patients, families, and the stroke hospital committee. In 2020, she briefly taught music at Multiple Intelligence School, before COVID interrupted things. She then worked at Kids First in 2021, in the nursery department, where she incorporated music into her work with the children.
In 2022, she studied IT while working at Mind Pearl. There, she was given the opportunity to perform a song at her company’s awards night. Her performance earned her an incentive trip to watch the Singapore 7s in 2023.
After taking some time away in 2024, she returned in 2025 as an assistant Librarian at St Joseph’s Secondary School.
Her career, much like her musical journey, has not followed a straight line.
“My career hasn’t really followed one straight path.
“I went where the call came. I could nearly say I was like a coconut going with the flow.”
Her first performance came in 2019 at a Columban Companions in Mission (CCIM) celebration, where she auditioned to join the WanUp band. Later that year, she performed with the band itself at Vuda Marina.
Her musical development has continued through both performing and learning from others. Among the local musicians who have inspired her are Freddy Kado and Kirk Kirite, whom she credits with helping her develop an even greater love for music.
“Thanks to them, I love music more than ever.”
For Powell, one of the most beautiful parts of music is that there is always something more to learn — and something to pass on.
“The idea of always learning and having to teach others who are watching and are keen on learning from me is beautiful.”
More recently, she has also found inspiration in watching the Fiji National Youth Dance Band, whose performances have left a strong impression on her.
Perhaps the most unexpected part of her journey has been returning to St Joseph’s Secondary School.
Having once been a student and Mass choir leader, she returned in 2025 as a staff member. Today, she is using her musical abilities in an even more direct way as the school’s music teacher, helping students develop their singing and instrumental skills and preparing them for Mass and other school activities.
That connection became even more significant with the school’s Platinum Jubilee Mass on September 11.
For someone who had once stood in the school as a student, helping prepare another generation of students for such an important celebration was a remarkable full-circle moment.
“To come full circle was crazy.”
Looking back, Powell does not see her journey as a carefully planned musical career.
“I didn’t plan this. I kept following the things that mattered to me, and somehow, they brought me back to where I started.”
As she puts it, she simply went where the call came — rather like a coconut going with the flow.
And perhaps that is the best description of her journey. She never quite knew where the next opportunity would take her, but she kept learning, growing, and following where life led.
Somehow, through all the different paths, music kept travelling with her — eventually bringing her back to where it all began, this time not as a student, but as a teacher helping the next generation find their own voice through music.
