Having The Keys To Success -- A Kirkland Pianist Keeps Seniors Dazzled

KIRKLAND

As Inez Hoyt approaches the upright piano at the Kirkland Senior Center, the left lens from her maroon-framed glasses pops out and bounces across the stage floor.

She picks up the lens, snaps it back into place and sits down to play.

Soon her fingers, despite arthritis, are flying up and down the keyboard. Her feet bounce on and off the pedals, dancing with the melodies to "Yankee Doodle" and "Love Makes the World Go 'Round."

Music has carried Hoyt through decades of difficulties, so something as small as broken spectacles or swollen fingers don't ruffle the 76-year-old.

A pianist since the age of 7, the Kirkland resident dazzles audiences at senior centers and gives jazz concerts at retirement homes.

Hoyt is eager to accompany anyone, from amateur voices to concert violinists.

"She plays for the true enjoyment of sharing music with other people," said Leann Dean, who has known Hoyt for more than 20 years.

Sometimes, Hoyt shares because she knows others need it, says Linda Joyce, a violin teacher from Redmond.

Last year, Hoyt met Joyce's mother, Lurames Mandel, who studied violin at the Julliard School of Music in the 1940s and in her prime played with symphony orchestras.

Mandel, who is struggling with the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, wanted to try out for the Redmond Follies. Hoyt accompanied Mandel at the audition for the annual variety show, then encouraged her to perform regularly.

"I try to get her playing as much as I can so she can keep her music," Hoyt said.

The two have since become musical partners, with a friendship that outsiders watch in awe.

On stage at the senior center, Hoyt introduces each piece on the piano keys. Seconds later, Mandel gives a knowing nod and follows along, playing the tune perfectly from memory.

"They're beautiful; I listen to them all I can," says Newell Ward, 95, of Kirkland.

When Hoyt's husband died of multiple sclerosis in 1960, she was left to raise four young boys. The Ellington upright piano in her Kirkland home became a different sort of companion.

She pulled the family together by singing around the piano Saturday nights. John, her youngest son, remembers falling asleep to Chopin.

"She had so many unhappy things that she could have dwelt on, but instead chose to be so positive," he says.

When her eldest son, Steven, drowned in a scuba accident, Hoyt again turned to music to help her get through. Then in her 50s, she enrolled at Seattle Pacific University and received a teaching degree in music.

"The kids absolutely loved her," recalls Leann Dean, a former colleague at the Lake Washington School District's Gordon Hauck School, who watched Hoyt teach students in wheelchairs how to march along with her tunes.

Today, Hoyt plays with the Kirkland Singing Seniors, a group of 12 who perform around the Eastside. She is a favorite accompanist for senior shows, but for more reasons than her ability to transpose songs into any key.

"Some of these people are kind of grumpy. She's always got a smile on her face," says Bill Spiers, a Singing Senior.

Hoyt says that is what music is all about: giving people a reason to hum.

"It's saved me a lot of times," she says, rushing off to her next sing-along. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Give us your ideas: If you know of a person or project making a difference - from fighting crime to cleaning the environment to helping kids - call the Making It Work voice-mail line, 464-3338, or write describing your nominee: c/o Lily Eng, The Seattle Times, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111. Include a phone number for more information.