Dominic Garvey, 79, died July 10 in Boothbay Harbor, surrounded by friends.
Dominic was born July 6, 1936, in Philadelphia, Penn. and grew up in Drexel Hill, a suburb of Philadelphia. He attended elementary school at the Sacred Heart of Manoa where he was introduced to the great Spanish teacher Honora Furtado, who taught piano at the Curtis Institute of Philadelphia. Dominic was accepted as a scholarship student at the conservatory where he stayed for 10 years. Samuel Barber, who was head of the piano division, became his mentor, especially during the adolescent years when he studied the piano repertory of Frederic Chopin. It was during this time that Dominic became the student of Dr. Margerite Mary Kearney, the drama director at WCAU, the CBS station for Philadelphia. His musical life became complicated when he became a classical accompanist for the Gateway Players of Summer’s Point, N. J. Upon graduation from high school, Dominic found a calling to join the Christian Brothers (F.S.C.).
He then pursued the dual work of education and a monastic life style. After leaving the Novitiate at Annondale, Md., Brother Dominic joined the scholasticate in Elkins Park, Penn., where he prepared for a career in education by obtaining an M.A. in education and an M.A. in theology at LaSalle University. This was in preparation for a history teaching assignment at Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh, Penn., where he began studies for his third M.A. in European history from Duquesne University. During this time period, the Fulbright Commission awarded Dominic a scholarship to study European history at the Sorbonne University of Paris. The French experience was quite extraordinary because it included two five week periods of living outside of Paris. Dominic chose Normandy and the village of Sainte-Mere-Eglise as one of the sites and the art center of Strasbourg for the second.
He then returned to the U.S. and resumed a teaching career in Pittsburgh, then Philadelphia to teach at his alma mater and begin a degree in theatre history at Villanova University.
When the results of Vatican II resounded through the Catholic Church, Dominic became one of thousands who left the monastic religious life to pursue careers in secular education. Finishing the M.A. at Villanova, Dominic went to New York City and rejoined the classical music world. His former mentor Samuel Barber and his life partner Gian Carlo Menotti took Dominic to Morocco where he was encouraged to continue the study of music under Virgil Thompson and Maurice Grosser, Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copeland and Paul Bowles. After a year in Marrakech, Dominic returned to New York and the complicated study of J.S. Bach under the watchful eye of Joe Greenspan, as well as to work and record the public concerts and performances of Montserrat Caballe, the Spanish soprano. Dominic had to say no to Julius Rudel and the offer to direct operatic productions at the NYC Opera. Secular theatre work was done at La Mamma, NYU, and Joe Papp’s Public Theatre. A doctoral degree was granted by NYU in 1975 with the thesis being titled “A History of Avante Garde Theatre: Wagner – Albee.”
At the urgings of a former student, Joe Malloy, Dominic came to Boothbay Harbor to be the artistic director of the Carousel Music Theatre, where he remained for 25 years working with Mary Miller, the Harbor Methodist Church, and for ten years, playing piano music for Melanie, Marylou, and Phil at the Rocktide Inn.
Dominic leaves brother, John and wife Ann of Newtown Heights, Penn., and their four children and 12 grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Dominic’s memory can be made to Lincoln County Animal Shelter in Edgecomb, or to the Boothbay Harbor Methodist Church, Townsend Ave., Boothbay Harbor. A celebration in Dominic’s honor will be held at the Carousel Music Theatre later this summer.