The Southern Cross | April 2024

From listening to her immigrant parents and their friends sing Lithuanian songs late into the night to playing the organ every Sunday at St Casimir Chapel, music has been a big part of Nemira Stapleton’s life. The 2024 Order of Australia Medal recipient shared her story.

Nemira Stapleton was only 21 years of age and in her second year at the Elder Conservatorium when she was asked to take over as conductor and organist for the Lithuanian choirs in Adelaide.

The previous conductor was from Lithuania and was in his late 60s when he retired from the St Casimir’s Choir as well as the Lithuanian Community Choir which had about 60 singers.

“At that time the chapel choir had about a dozen people. I was just into my music degree and I thought I can’t take on both,” Nemira recalled.

But the church choir quickly grew and soon she was leading a large group of singers, most of whom had honed their craft in Lithuania and had “these gorgeous voices, great booming bases and soaring sopranos”.

“We were doing six part/voice Masses, we had a lot of priests and other noteworthy visitors coming over to visit from Europe and America, and so we were able to do a lot of good singing then,” 77-year-old Nemira (pictured) said.

“They were all older than me but because I was at the Conservatorium I guess I was kind of equipped, and I had been playing since I was 12 and performing in youth concerts.”

Soon she became choir master of the Lithuanian Community Choir as well. There was plenty of rivalry between states with most of the conductors highly accomplished musicians from Lithuania. Nemira said Adelaide was regarded at that time as the best in Australia. Performances at arts festivals around the country were keenly observed with critics reviewing their performances in the Lithuanian newspaper.

Nemira’s music career began at St Joseph’s School, Lower North Adelaide, where she was taught piano by Sr Liguori.

The school was located behind St Mary’s Church and Sr Liguori also encouraged her to play the harmonium in the church which helped when she later played the organ for the Lithuanian choir.

But her love of music began in the home where her immigrant parents would sit around the table and sing Lithuanian folk songs long into the night.

“I’d be curled up on the sofa or reading a book and would listen to them sing,” Nemira said.

“My dad had a lovely baritone voice and could play the piano by ear but I later realised that he stopped playing after I started learning.”

Nemira was two when she arrived in Australia with her parents, Lidija and Napoleon Masiulis, who had fled Lithuania in 1941 as Russian troops took control of the Baltic nation.

They took their chances in Germany and spent the rest of the war in a labour camp, then found accommodation in a private home in Bavaria, where Nemira was born, while they awaited resettlement in Australia.

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