Leicester native’s opera debuts
When Martha Jean Southwick went to Vienna in 1975, it was to further her study of music at the University of Vienna during her junior year abroad from the University of Massachusetts. Except for periodic visits with her family in Leicester, she has never really come back.
Her life in Vienna has centered around music, first as a student earning her degree at the university there, then as a music teacher and a composer. She met her husband, Franz Schwediauer, in Vienna, and that's where they still live with their daughter. And it was in Vienna, just over a week ago, that her opera, "The Peaceable Kingdom," had its world premier.
The opera was a long time coming. She was in the final stages of the composition in 1993 when she spent the summer at her family home on Marshall Street in Leicester, the longest time she had been home since her graduation from Leicester High School in 1973.
The opera is named after a series of pastoral paintings, one of which is in the collection of the Worcester Art Museum. The plot deals with characters from Greek mythology who struggle with the idea of establishing a new world order based on wisdom and tranquility.
"I wanted something with animals," she said during an interview with Telegram & Gazette music writer Frank Magiera in 1993. "I wanted something that would also appeal to children and I wanted something set in ancient Greece — a mythological sort of thing."
"The Peaceable Kingdom" is described in the program for its premier at Christ Church in Vienna as "music theater for narrator, nine solo singers, flute, piano and chamber choir in seven scenes, suitable for all from age 8 to 100."
The names of the opera's characters attest to how well she followed the game plan she outlined in Leicester — Hermes, Athena, Ares, Echo, Pan, Nektaria, Dionysus, Silenus, Meletos, not to mention Monkey, Lamb, Lion and Ostrich (several of the solo singers sing more than one part). Martha herself is listed as pianist for the performance.
The composer, who now goes by the name Martha Schwediauer Southwick, gained something more than the quiet time to work on her opera during her vacation that summer in Leicester. She had the opportunity to work with the man who became the work's librettist — her father and longtime writer for the Telegram & Gazette, Albert B. Southwick.
"The opera is written in English," Mr. Southwick said. "It has since been translated into German, but I didn't do it — my German is not that good."
Mr. Southwick wasn't able to get to Vienna for the Dec. 2 premier — "It's getting a little harder for me to travel these days, but they're making me a copy of the performance," said the retired editorial writer who still pens a weekly column for the Sunday Insight section.
The opera has been the major musical effort of Martha's career, but it has not been her only composition that has been performed publicly. She recently celebrated her 50th birthday with a musical event in the town of Erla, Austria, where she and her family have a summer place. The event featured several pieces of her music and she played the piano and organ during the concert.
She also was commissioned to write pieces for two prestigious Austrian music festivals, at Hellbrun and Bregenz, in 1993.
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Folks in Leicester are getting used to seeing senior citizens wearing red hats and purple dresses, the official costumes of the Red Hat Society. That garb will be very much in evidence at noon today at the Leicester Country Club when the Red Hat Sophisticates of Leicester celebrate the holiday season.
But on Friday, the Red Hatters and many of the town's other seniors will be trading the red and the purple for another color — pink.
That's the color that participants in the nutrition program at the Leicester Senior Center don every Dec. 15 when they celebrate the anniversary of the program's founding on that date in 1975. It's their way of saying, "We may be getting older, but we're still in the pink."
The nickname "In the Pink" was given to the celebration by Adele M. Lafayette, who was supervisor of the nutrition program when it started in the basement hall at St. Pius X Church and who is still supervising it at the Leicester Senior Center 31 years later.
"I came up with the name because I wanted to emphasize the importance of eating nutritious meals to keep seniors in the pink of condition," she said.
Program participants quickly adapted to the idea of wearing pink clothing on the day. Even the men trot out the pink shirts that were popular some years ago.
The In the Pink celebration has become more than just sitting down together for a nutritious meal — this year it's pork stir-fry, steamed rice, crunchy noodles, oriental vegetables, pineapple and a dinner roll. There's also a get-together before the noon meal and a concert afterward.
Drop-ins are welcome for the pre-dinner get-together and the concert, but those wishing to attend the meal must call (508) 892-7204 to reserve space 24 hours in advance. The requested donation for the meal is $2.
Seniors should also note that the nutrition program will be offering Christmas dinner at the center next Tuesday, Dec. 19, with fresh fruit compote, roast pork with gravy and applesauce, garlic mashed potatoes, Chinese green beans, dinner rolls and carrot cake. The same reservation requirements apply, along with the same $2 donation request.
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And a final note for seniors: If you didn't get your flu shotduring the clinic held earlier this month, there's still one more chance. The Board of Health will be holding a second clinic from 3 to 6 p.m. Friday in the selectmen's conference room on the lower floor of the Town Hall.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Leicester native's opera debuts
