mcpherson was chair of the scientific committee convening the international symposium of performance science hosted by the university of melbourne in july 2019. he has consulted for the music sector development plan for unesco's international music council from 2008. he also serves on the federal board of the australian music examinations board. as chair of the international society for music education constitution, bylaws and policy manual review committee from 2012 to 2018, he oversaw a complete overhaul of the governance and workings of the society. mcpherson was a co-founder, along with hong soo lee (korea) and tadahiro murao (japan), of "asia-pacific symposium on music education research" (apsmer), to provide a forum for asia-pacific researchers, graduate students and teachers in music education to meet every two years. he served on its board of directors 1997–2009, and 2013–2017.