Evan Drachman's Biography
Cellist Evan Drachman has combined artistic talent with great personal warmth and compassion to create a distinctive musical career. Mr. Drachman is increasingly sought-after both for his solo and chamber music performances, and as one of the most respected authorities on the presentation of live classical music for diverse audiences. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Piatigorsky Foundation. The Foundation's mission is to make live classical music a part of the fabric of everyday life, especially for communities who would otherwise not have the opportunity to hear it. The organization is named for Evan Drachman's grandfather, the cellist Gregor Piatigorsky.
In 1999, Mr. Drachman released his first solo CD, A Frog He Went a Courting, with pianist Richard Dowling. The Baltimore Sun's Steven Wigler wrote of the recording: "Drachman possesses in abundance two qualities for which his grandfather was revered: the ability to make the cello imitate the human singing voice and, even more important, the ability to tell a story."
Since graduating from the Curtis Institute of Music in 1988, Mr. Drachman has appeared regularly as soloist with orchestras, in recitals and chamber music performances across the United States. He has also played recitals in India, Great Britain, Sweden, Italy and Canada. He toured the Far East as soloist with the Chinese-American Symphony in Taipei and giving recitals in Hong Kong and Macau. In 1994, Mr. Drachman performed with the Odessa Philharmonic in Odessa and Kiev. In July 1997, at the invitation of Mstislav Rostropovich, he returned to Russia to perform as soloist with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic under Maestro Rostropovich at the Second World Cello Congress.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Evan Drachman studied at the Peabody Conservatory, the New England Conservatory, and the Curtis Institute of Music. His principal teachers were Stephen Kates, Laurence Lesser, Luis Garcia-Renart, William Pleeth, and Orlando Cole. He has spent his summers performing at music festivals including Aspen, Yale at Norfolk, the Park City International Music Festival, the Banff Center for the Arts in Canada, Prussia Cove in Aldeburgh, England and at the Cennina Music Festival in Italy.
Mr. Drachman has a special love for Alaska and returns frequently to perform for the Sitka Summer Music Festival at the invitation of the Festival's founder, violinist Paul Rosenthal |
