North Valley Music School’s campaign for new building receives donations
North Valley Music School has received two $100,000 gifts from two donors for the construction of the new music school and campus in Whitefish.
Linda Smith Wendfeldt sponsored a vocal studio in memory of her father, Rollie Smith, who had a beautiful tenor voice and in honor of her daughter, Holly Smith Hartsough (Rollie’s granddaughter), who spent hours in NVMS’s preschool music classes with her three children.
“The new space for the North Valley Music School will provide our wonderful Whitefish folk, young and old, the opportunity to discover talents they never knew they had,” said Wendfelt. “Wonderful friends and memories will be made through the years.”
The other studio sponsorship is from the Kramer family, in memory of Jack and Gloria Kramer.
“Our entire family is very pleased and proud to be a major donor to this important community project. Music can change lives,” said John Kramer. “With fundraising now reaching $4 million, we encourage everyone to help this nonprofit music school raise the total $6.5 million needed so NVMS can break ground this coming summer.”
When completed, the campus is expected to serve over 500 music students each year. Twenty faculty offer music lessons and programs at NVMS’s current location at 432 Spokane Ave. in Whitefish. T
he proposed facility will provide nearly 8,500 square feet of space for private studios, group classrooms, staff offices, and a multi-purpose recital space. The campus will have ample safe parking, two outdoor performance spaces and a musical playground.
With these two new donations, NVMS now has six of the 15 studios sponsored. Other studios are sponsored by Steve Lull, Alpine Village Center, the Cadeau Foundation and one is in memory of former Columbia Falls music teacher, Cindy Cameron.
“We are forever grateful to these families for honoring their loved ones in this meaningful way,” said Executive Director Deidre Corson. “Music is eternal and we hope that their gifts create even more momentum needed to bring our new musical campus to life. We'd love to reach the $5 million mark by the end of the year and start 2023 strong.”
To date, NVMS has raised almost $4 million in gifts and pledges. Reaching the $6.5 million fundraising goal and breaking ground in 2023 will coincide with another historic milestone for the organization — the music school’s 25th anniversary.
To sponsor a studio, receive more information on the project, or contribute to the campaign, call 406-862-8074, email deidre@northvalleymusicschool.org or visit www.nvms.me