**February 3, 2009**

**[VA Medical Center Brings World-Class Musicians to
Patients]{.underline}**

**Concert is Part of Disabled and Elderly Veterans\' Therapy**

PHOENIX - Ancient Greek philosophers believed that music could heal both
the body and the soul, and Native Americans have used singing and
chanting as part of their healing rituals for centuries.

Now, the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care System (PVAHCS) is
bringing the soothing power of music - as performed by classical artists
who have played around the world - to their patients.

**Cellist Evan Drachman and pianist Doris Stevenson, with the
Piatigorsky Foundation, will perform for VA Medical Center patients this
week.**

**When:             Friday, Feb. 6, 1:30 p.m.**

**Where:            Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center, located at the
northwest corner of Seventh Street and Indian School Road, Phoenix.
Enter the Community Living Center (CLC) from Seventh Street, just north
of the Main Entrance.**

A national leader in the field of recreation therapy, VA uses a broad
range of activities to help restore patients\' physical, mental, social
and emotional well-being. VA hospitals began using music during World
War II to help treat soldiers suffering from \"shell shock,\" or
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Studies have shown that music can
affect brain waves, brain circulation, and stress hormones, relieving
anxiety. It also promotes social interaction and intellectual
stimulation.

The PVAHCS\' Community Living Center provides a variety of services
including medical, nursing and therapy services - such as physical and
recreational therapy - to disabled and aging veterans. About 65 veterans
of service from World II through the Vietnam War reside at the
facility. 

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VA Medical Center Brings World-Class Musicians to Patients

The Piatigorsky Foundation is a non-profit organization founded by
Drachman, which presents concerts across the country in places where
people would otherwise not have the opportunity to attend such
performances. The hour-long concerts take place in relaxed and intimate
settings, and the musicians introduce their programs, giving insights
into the works they will perform. Drachman established the Foundation in
1990 in honor of his grandfather, renowned cellist, Gregor Piatigorsky,
who died in 1976.

**More about the artists**

Since graduating from the Curtis Institute of Music in 1988, **Evan
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.

Pianist **Doris Stevenson,** Artist In Residence at Williams College,
divides her time between Williamstown, Mass., and New York City, and is
much in demand as recitalist and chamber musician in both locations. She
has performed at Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York, the
Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Salle Pleyel in Paris, Suntory Hall
in Tokyo and Sala Arongo in Bogota, Columbia. Early in her career,
Stevenson was invited by Jascha Heifetz and Gregor Piatigorsky to
perform with them. She played for the famed master classes of
Piatigorsky, who described her as \"an artist of the highest order.\"
She also has appeared as soloist with the Boston Pops Orchestra

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