Concert Ninety-Two: 2/13/26 at the Peacham Meetinghouse
...donations benefited NOFA-Vermont’s resilience and the farmer emergency funds
Peacham, named “Best New England Village” by Yankee magazine in 2005, is the birthplace of
Samuel Worcester,
whose father ministered to the church where we held our 92nd concert. Samuel too entered the ministry and became a missionary to the Cherokee, the “Cherokee Messenger” who translated the bible and co-established the first native American newspaper, the Cherokee Phoenix, printed in both English and Cherokee. He is the Worcester of Worcester v. Georgia, in which he contested the state’s right to arrest and imprison him for living in Cherokee territory without the state’s permission, arguing that the Cherokee were a sovereign nation free to make their own arrangements. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed, holding that federal treaties outranked state law. The ruling was famously ignored by both the Georgia governor and President Andrew Jackson, with Jackson supposedly saying of Chief Justice John Marshall “He has made his ruling, now let him enforce it”—a historic defiance of the rule of law referenced almost daily in the news today as I write this. Worcester was eventually released and moved to Indian Territory to prepare for the arrival of the Cherokee (forced there via the infamous the Trail of Tears) where he died in 1859.
Peacham was also the eventual home or summer residence of pacifist and Chicago Seven defendant David Dellinger, William Lederer, author of The Ugly American, staunch abolitionist congressman Thaddeus Stevens, and alleged Soviet spy Alger Hiss. Quite a roster for a town of about 700 souls!
click any image to enlarge
Sunset over Peacham Corner, en route to concertThe MeetinghouseSamuel WorcesterLavinia Fenton as Polly Peachum
Uniquely among Vermont towns and marvelously, Peacham appears to be named after a work of music—the popular 18th-century show The Beggar’s Opera (itself the basis for the Threepenny Opera of Weill and Brecht) whose leading lady is Polly Peachum. Lavinia Fenton, the actress who created the role to great acclaim, died in 1760, and to honor her memory the opera was in frequent revival for the next few years. Apparently Gov. Benning Wentworth of New Hampshire, who was responsible for charting and naming the bulk of Vermont’s towns, saw a production and was inspired to name the town Peacham in memory of Fenton in 1763.
The opera centers on colorful characters of the London underworld; the Peachum family specializes in moving stolen goods and occasionally turning in one of their robber associates to be executed in exchange for a handsome bounty—making Peacham also the only Vermont town to be named for a known criminal fence.
Liam Conejo Ramos, I.C.E. kidnappee—here with a providential chandelier halo—was one of several Minneapolis victims pictured in the churchThe programMacheath (Andrew Hudson-Sabens) gazes admiringly at the town’s eponymous Polly Peachum (Erin Dempsey)Bruce Westcott filled in Peacham—in peach. (The brown rectangle due north is Brownington.)
We had to honor the unique derivation of “Peacham” with a set of songs from The Beggar’s Opera, sung by area singers Erin Dempsey (who also sang with me at the concert in her hometown of Stannard) and Andrew Hudson-Sabens.
I also had the pleasure of my first-ever collaboration with a saw player, Michael Kennedy, of the adjacent village of West Barnet. (For those keeping score, I did have a true resident collaborator too: Bruce Westcott, treasurer of the Meetinghouse, who joined me for a Brahms Hungarian Dance.)
Scarlatti Sonata in G minor, K.92“Over the Rainbow” with Michael Kennedy, saw (includes bonus interview)The romantic songs from the otherwise very unromantic Beggar’s Opera
A huge cast of characters contributed to organizing this concert. Library board member Cathy Browne and librarian Susan Smolinsky originally invited us to play at the library, but referred us to folks at the church, which seemed the better concert space. Treasurer Bruce Westcott was our main contact there, while recent Peacham arrival Eric Pomeroy took on the extensive promotion.
Patty Gardner, Rhoda Donovan, Rick Scholes, and Lynne Lawson also helped spread the word. Kristin Van Aken of nearby West Barnet proposed the saw collaboration with Michael (her husband), and the two of them hosted my wife and me that evening so we could continue on to the magical Lake Morey, home to the longest groomed skating path in North America, for a day of Nordic skating.
He came, he sawed, he concertMichael’s vintage “axe”Michael shared this poster from the 1980’s, announcing a Morrisville talk debunking “climate change”. Plus ça change
...about the piano
The venerable mahogany Steinway, dating from the early 20th century, has a beautiful tone and wonderfully controllable dynamic range, despite a very heavy action and tricky imbalances in the power of different registers.
Technician Eric Brinkerhoff writes:
The piano was owned by Charles and Virginia Leavitt when it came to my rebuilding shop. I did everything except the finish. It went back to their home for few years when I heard that it was being donated to the church. Upon inspection it was determined that it needed another session in the shop as a result of being kept in a damp room over a dirt cellar with no humidity control.
I restrung it and did a lot of bridge and soundboard repair etc. I have tuned it on a fairly regular basis since.
I think it has been near 20 years since I completed the 2nd rebuild. The serial number was not on the piano when I worked on it, and I could never find it; I think someone had worked on it previously and they had not bothered to put it back on the plate after they refinished it.
Comments (1)
Bruce Westcott
March 7th, 2026 6:33pm
It was a complete pleasure to have you present this great music. Quite a challenge for me to work up the Brahms, but worth it. With a little more prep, I think we could have gotten a few more local singers, alas. Your spontaneity and focus on the local culture and history of each Town is amazing. I can't wait to read the book!
Play Every Town
Comments (1)
Bruce Westcott
March 7th, 2026 6:33pm
It was a complete pleasure to have you present this great music. Quite a challenge for me to work up the Brahms, but worth it. With a little more prep, I think we could have gotten a few more local singers, alas. Your spontaneity and focus on the local culture and history of each Town is amazing. I can't wait to read the book!