WVC Foundation presents The Piatigorsky Foundation Concert and Outstanding Friend of the College Award on May 5

Media Contact: Stacey Lockhart, WVC Foundation executive director, 509.682.6415, or Kathleen LeBlanc, Piatigorsky Foundation, 212.971.5309

April 26, 2016

The public is invited to The Piatigorsky Foundation Concert, presented by the Wenatchee Valley College Foundation, on Thursday, May 5, at 7 p.m. in The Grove Recital Hall, WVC Music and Art Center, on the Wenatchee campus. A light reception will begin in the Marlys Barrett Lobby at 6 p.m. This event is generously sponsored by Wilfred and Kathy Woods.

The WVC Foundation will also bestow recognition on the Francis and Margaret Crane Family as the 2015 Outstanding Friends of the College during the concert for their philanthropic support of the WVC agricultural programs and WVC Foundation.  

The Piatigorsky Foundation Concert features cellist Evan Drachman and pianist Lisa Bergman.  They first performed in The Grove in April 2013, just a few months after the new Music and Art Center opened giving it rave reviews. Word spread fast to fellow musicians who are part of the Piatigorsky Foundation concert tours and now, four years later they are back, and looking forward to once again performing in The Grove Recital Hall.  

“We relish our return to the beautiful Grove Recital Hall and the chance to experience the warm Wenatchee welcome, so dear to us.  We’ve come to think of Wenatchee as not only the Apple Capital but the Applause Capital of NCW!  Hopefully we’ll earn it too!” says Bergman.

The audience will also have the opportunity to meet the artists after the concert.  Seating is limited; please call the WVC Foundation at 509.682.6410 to reserve a seat.

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Cellist EVAN DRACHMAN has combined artistic talent with great personal compassion and warmth to create a distinctive musical career. Drachman is increasingly sought-after for his solo and chamber music performances, and as Founder and Artistic Director of The Piatigorsky Foundation, he has become one of the most respected authorities on the presentation of live classical music for diverse audiences everywhere. In 1999, Drachman recorded his first CD, A Frog He Went a Courting, with pianist Richard Dowling.  Following this success, Drachman and Dowling released two more recordings titled, Infinity in 2004 and Romance and Revelation in 2007. Drachman has appeared regularly as soloist with orchestras and in recitals and chamber music performances across the United States, Europe and Asia.  Born in Boston, Mass., Drachman studied at the Peabody Conservatory, the New England Conservatory, and the Curtis Institute of Music. He has spent his summers performing at music festivals in the United States and abroad. Drachman currently lives in Maryland with his wife Joan and their two sons, Eli and Oliver.

Pianist LISA BERGMAN, a passionate promoter of classical music, is a national Gracie Award-winning radio announcer on Classic KING-FM, appearing daily, streaming worldwide.  Bergman is founder and Artistic Director of the Mostly Nordic Chamber Music Series in Seattle and as executive director of NOISE (Northwest Opera in Schools, Etcetera). She is the Adult Piano Retreat Director at the Icicle Creek Center for the Arts in Leavenworth, Wash., where she served for seven years as the executive director. She was artistic director of the Methow Chamber Music Festival from 2003-2006. Bergman is also a concert pianist specializing in collaborative piano and chamber music, and is a graduate of the Juilliard School, the State University of New York at Stony Brook and the University of Washington, cum laude. She made her Carnegie Recital Hall debut in 1983. As a recording artist, her discography includes six chamber music CDs and one solo CD. Bergman is a member of the Hall of Fame for the Washington State Music Teachers Association.


2015 Outstanding Friend of the College – Francis and Margaret Crane Family

Wenatchee Valley College created its agriculture program in 1985 in response to the needs of the agriculture industry in the Wenatchee Valley.  Since that time, hundreds of students have benefited from the opportunity to earn a certificate or degree in agriculture related fields from WVC. In the mid-1990’s, a partnership was developed between WVC and Washington State University, which resulted in an articulation agreement between the WVC and WSU agriculture programs.

Francis Crane graduated from Brewster High School at a time when few men graduated from high school, and he went on to college at a time when fewer still graduated from college. All of his life he believed in education, and when he had the opportunity to put his money where his interest was, he funded a scholarship for Brewster graduates. This was just the beginning of Francis and Margaret’s philanthropic support of education in North Central Washington.

From 1979-1984 Francis Crane served on the WVC Foundation board of directors and was recognized for his distinguished service and inducted in the WVC Foundation’s Board Emeritus Society.

In 1997, Francis and Margaret Crane of Brewster, created and funded an endowment with the WSU Foundation with a gift of $1 million. The intent of the endowment was to support the WVC agriculture program with annual distributions from the fund.  Over the years, the endowment has supported faculty positions as well as student scholarships and general program support with more than $655,000 in distributions.

In December 2015, after several meetings with WVC agriculture faculty and the WVC Foundation, the Crane Family, with Margaret’s blessing, made the decision to move the endowment in its entirety to the WVC Foundation for local management and distribution for program support. This resulted in a gift of $1.4 million to the WVC Foundation. This most recent gift to the WVC Foundation increases the philanthropic support of Francis and Margaret Crane to more than $1.5 million.