Dr. Sheila Fay’s involvement with The Governor’s Mansion Foundation began in 1988
when she and her family first toured the mansion. Her neighbor, GMF Trustee and
Historian Betty Barnes had invited them many times. Dr. Fay’s mother was visiting
from Israel, and it seemed the perfect time to visit the mansion and see all the
treasures. The most interesting ones to her were the two seven foot Steinway pianos
that had been gifted to the mansion years before. She couldn’t believe they were
just sitting there and, she was informed, rarely played except for a solo performance
at a tea.
Sheila was a general surgeon at St. Peter Hospital and worked with Jenny Edwards,
an operating room nurse who had moved from Portland, Oregon two years previously.
In Portland, Jenny was working towards her Bachelor of Music at Portland State University,
but found it necessary to move to Olympia during her senior year, because of family.
She had yet to give her senior recital for her Performance degree and was in need
of a capable second pianist. One day in an operating room where Jenny worked, an
anesthesiologist, Dr. William Beppu, suggested Dr. Fay might fill that need.
Dr. Fay had just resumed her piano playing. She had stopped playing after her father’s
death in 1983, five years previously. When Jenny contacted her and told her she
was going to play the wonderful Saint-Saens second piano concerto for her recital,
Dr. Fay began to work on it. For their practice they required two pianos. Dr. Gerald
Fay, Sheila’s husband, was the physician for then governor Booth Gardner and thought
they might gain access to the mansion’s two Steinways. They were given permission
and began to practice there regularly. The women’s young children began to think
of the mansion as a place to play while their mothers practiced.
It soon became apparent that both pianos needed extensive repairs and the Governor’s
Mansion Foundation lacked the available funds to pay for them. Sheila Fay and Jenny
Edwards began to think of ways they could raise the money. Edwards explained, “The
idea came that before my final senior recital at Portland State, we could do a concert
in Olympia as a trial concert, a rehearsal concert.” It was Sheila’s suggestion
that the mansion would be a great place to do it, and perhaps they could raise money
to fix the pianos. Edwards said, “It was Sheila’s idea, and then the connection
to Governor Booth Gardner kind of made it all happen, actually.” They arranged a
program that included Jenny’s required program, and some other pieces to offer a
full recital.
They also made a connection through The Steinway House with Steven Brady, a piano
technician who could facilitate the piano repairs. One of the pianos was over seventy
years old, and the other was about twenty years old. Ironically, it was the twenty
year-old piano that had too tight action; but Brady made the pianos playable, so
they could perform. [The oldest piano was donated by Mrs. Euclid McBride, mother
of Ann Simons, 2nd president of the foundation and is circa 1929]. [The second piano
was donated by Mr. And Mrs. James Pigott, circa 1979]. Steve agreed to do some work
in advance, enough to make the piano playable, feeling quite sure the money would
be raised and he would eventually be paid to complete all the work.
The pair [Fay and Edwards] was given permission to have two concerts in which the
funds raised would be by donation only. The two concerts were scheduled, one on
March 10, 1989; the other was April 12, 1989. As they anticipated, the medical community
in the area proved to be very interested in music and very generous.
“The goal was to raise enough money to really refurbish the pianos,” Dr. Fay related,
“I mean, really redo both pianos completely, like the sounding board which was cracked.
There was a lot of work to be done. We estimated that it would take thousands of
dollars. The two concerts raised ten thousand dollars, more than enough to do all
the work that was ultimately necessary. It was an interesting time, because we had
over a hundred and twenty people at each concert. We had people up in the balcony.
We had people standing everywhere. The audience consisted mostly of people from
the medical community and our families; but it was the warmest audience and the
audiences at the Mansion continue to be very warm.”
They felt quite privileged to have played this program together and to have raised
the money that was needed. Steve Brady ultimately became the caretaker of the instruments.
Through him, they met the most incredible pianist, Steve’s wife, Judith Cohen. He
brought her one day when he came down to listen to them play when an assessment
was needed for the pianos. Sheila Fay sat down next to her and asked who she was,
and was told that she was also a pianist. Dr. Fay said, “Oh, that’s great. I’m not
a pianist. I just play the piano.” That was the beginning of a very important relationship
between the two women and with the mansion. Ms. Cohen was thrilled when she saw
the instruments, because the mansion was the perfect venue for chamber music and
duo piano and how often does one find two evenly matched seven-foot concert grands?
The oldest piano was originally brown and the other was ebony black. It was ultimately
decided that, as part of the refurbishing, Steve would finish both of them black.
Now they would be matched acoustically as well as in color, and wouldn’t it be nice
to have more of the citizenry enjoy them. The two women made plans for a chamber
music series and invited well-known artists to appear. In the beginning, the musicians
were chosen, mainly, from the Northwest region. It was decided a reasonable admission
fee would be charged for the three or four concerts a year. Most of the monies raised
would be for the maintenance of the two pianos and part would go to the Governor’s
Mansion Foundation. One of the first groups was the internationally recognized Florestan
Piano Trio, from Portland. Later, there was a piano duo, the Contiguglia Twins,
who had come from the East coast to appear with the Tacoma Philharmonic. One of
the duo had been Dr. Fay’s teacher at a prior time, and the three were pleased to
reconnect backstage. When the Contiguglia brothers were invited to play with the
Seattle Symphony, they came down to the Mansion and gave a concert. For over twenty
years, there have been at least four concerts a year. Audiences have been privileged
to hear many world class musicians.
It was through the brothers that the concert affiliation with the Adams Foundation
began. The aim of the Adams Foundation is to bring piano concerts into smaller venues,
smaller communities. Even though this area is not underserved in terms of concert
music, they managed to slip in the Washington State Governor’s Mansion. Sheila and
Jenny were responsible for booking all the concerts and Judith Cohen, being a professional
pianist, had contacts in the Seattle area and was invited by Jenny and Sheila to
join them in performance as well as in seeking talent for the programs. Being musicians,
the three had many connections to other professional musicians, and they tried to
keep it a professional venue. They also tried every year to invite professional
local musicians to play, usually for the June concert.
The trustees have always been heavily involved in the series and people who Dr.
Fay and Ms. Edward feel should be given credit for being most involved in getting
the project started are Betty Barnes, Dorothy Donworth, Eva Goldberg and Sharon
Seaman. Sharon, who passed away several years ago, was the person who coordinated
everything frequently without recognition. She was the one who stored all the information,
readied the invitations, and kept track of the reservations and money. It was Sharon
who did much of the groundwork in the first ten years often assisted by Marilyn
Erickson. Now, all that responsibility has been passed to Laurie Maricle, the current
concert chairperson.
The musicians still come, but the audience has changed. It is not only those from
the medical field who are in the audience. The general public has become aware of
the concerts and supports them. The ballroom, where the concerts are held, can only
seat one hundred and it is always a challenge to seat everyone who wants to be there.
The concerts are usually sold out. It is a delightful evening with wine, coffee
and hors d’oeurves, followed with an hour of uninterrupted music.
The concerts continue to be popular and the community can still enjoy the music
in the setting of the elegant Governor’s Mansion.