Music in the Vineyards’ 22nd season features award-winning ensembles, a commissioned work and Beethoven’s quartets
Music in the Vineyards’ 22nd festival season will present 17 chamber music concerts set in winery venues up and down the Napa Valley from July 29 through Aug. 21.
The concerts, held at twilight with wine served at intermission, feature 39 musicians of international renown who gather together and reside in the Napa Valley during the festival. The artists connect with old friends, collaborate with new colleagues, rehearse and build chemistry for each piece, and perform in settings that include barrel rooms and wine caves.
Michael and Daria Adams, founding artistic directors of Music in the Vineyards, work all year to piece together musicians and music in a matchmaking puzzle that culminates in a four-week extravaganza. This year, the festival welcomes four ensembles to the stages including the Escher, Jupiter and Ariel quartets, as well as the San Francisco Piano Trio, a group that was formed from the bonds of friendship established in past summers at the festival.
The season kicks off on Friday, July 29, at Freemark Abbey Winery where clarinet phenom Burt Hara of the Los Angeles Philharmonic will join The Escher Quartet for Brahms’ signature clarinet quintet.
“It will be wonderful to explore the Brahms Quintet together,” said Hara. “It is one of the finest pieces of chamber music ever written; I like how the clarinet part is integrated into the string writing, less as a solo instrument, but more as one of five voices.”
Jamieson Ranch Vineyards plays host to two concerts this season, including on Sunday, July 31, featuring Mozart’s penultimate work of chamber music, his Quintet for Strings in D. The festival returns to the winery on Saturday, Aug. 20, for an all-Beethoven concert.
On Friday, Aug. 5, at Frog’s Leap Winery, the winner of the 2015 Irving M. Klein competition, 17-year-old cellist Oliver Herbert, will perform a Debussy Sonata. Another highlight of the night is César Franck’s emotional and romantic piano quintet, composed while he was infatuated with one of his students.
At each concert, Michael Adams presents a commentary prior to each piece.
Music in the Vineyards heads north to Calistoga on Saturday, Aug. 6, for a Cave Theater concert at Clos Pegase. “The stunning acoustics of the Cave Theater add something special to any program, whether it’s in the warmth and brilliance of Lorna McGhee’s flute, or the rich textures and folksy charm of Dvorak’s string quintet,” said Michael Adams.
The festival continues at Chimney Rock on Sunday, Aug. 7, where baritone Timothy Jones will perform a newly commissioned work from Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts inspired by W.B. Yeats’ poetry, “In At The Eye.”
“I have heard quite a few of Puts’ pieces and I love the lyricism and beauty in his work,” said Daria Adams. “I think the choice of Yeats ensures a compelling text, which I am confident will be represented in the music.”
Silverado Vineyards is home to the festival for three concerts, featuring masterpieces by Haydn, Brahms, Smetana, Boccherini and Schumann.
On Saturday, Aug. 13, international viola soloist Paul Neubauer is featured in “Soul Garden” by Derek Bermel.
“‘Soul Garden’ is a remarkable mash-up; the solo viola brings the essence of gospel face-to-face with the European tradition,” said Michael Adams. The piece was written specifically for Neubauer, who describes the work as wild and unusual.
“Oftentimes I feel like the sales rep for composers,” said Neubauer. “For example, I’m trying to convince the audience that Brahms wrote the perfect piece of music for these specific instruments. I always try to represent the composer’s work in a sincere and thoughtful way.”
“I am very excited to welcome back these two old friends,” said Michael Adams, referring to Hara and Neubauer. “Both of them are exciting, charismatic performers who always bring out the best in the musicians around them.”
The final week of the festival culminates with the complete 16-string quartets of Ludwig van Beethoven. Considered to be the pinnacle achievement of chamber music repertoire, the quartets will be performed in five concerts on successive days (Aug. 17-21) by the Ariel Quartet.
Guest commentator Nuvi Mehta, artistic director of the Ventura Music Festival, will host the series. Mehta is known for his engaging lectures preceding performances by the San Diego Symphony, and has presented on the healing power of music as part of a TEDx Talk in San Diego.
This season, in lieu of a fundraising gala, the artistic directors have come up with an opportunity for donors more in line with the festival’s mission, to present great chamber music in Napa Valley settings. Donors can join “The Esterhazy Society,” named after composer Joseph Haydn’s great patron, and receive admission to exclusive Estate Concerts.
“I’ve played for many festivals before, and each one has its own vibe, depending on the city, the venue, and even the audience,” said Neubauer. “Music in the Vineyards is particularly fun for me — I look forward to returning to the Napa Valley and working with new people – it’s part of our growth as artists. This season the repertoire is incredible, many masters of western music are represented and the privilege of playing this repertoire for audiences is indescribable.”
Tickets for Music in the Vineyards concerts cost $60 and are on sale now. Esterhazy Society membership starts at $500 per concert and space is limited.
The festival also offers free open rehearsals on Thursdays and a closing night celebration at Meadowood Napa Valley on Aug. 21 ($145). For information call 707-258-5559, email info@musicinthevineyards.org, or visit MusicInTheVineyards.org.
On Wednesday, Aug. 5, the festival welcomes the up-and-coming Verona Quartet for their Music in the Vineyards debut at Beringer Vineyards. Members of the quartet can also be heard collaborating with others during the second week of concerts, including Saturday, Aug. 8, at Clos Pegase in the winery’s acoustically dramatic Cave Theater. The program features Arnold Schoenberg’s romantic poem “Transfigured Night,” controversial in its time for explicit references to sexual themes.
“There are so many parts of Transfigured Night that give me goose bumps — even if I listen to them 10 times in a row,” said cellist Warren Hagerty of the Verona Quartet. “I can’t think of many other pieces of music that move me as much as this one does.”
On Saturday, Aug. 15, Inglenook will host 11 artists including acclaimed violinists Hye-Jin Kim and Ara Gregorian, who plan to marry this summer after the festival. The concert will feature a Schubert sonatina for violin and piano, an expressive Fauré quartet inspired by heartbreak, and a charming sextet by Russian nationalist composer Mikhail Glinka.
“I have never played the Glinka sextet before, it’s off the beaten path for festival repertoire, and I’m looking forward to exploring it,” said Gregorian. “It’s exciting to perform a piece without any preconceived notions and to see how the relationships between musicians, as well as the piece itself, develop over the rehearsal periods leading up to the concert.”
At Music in the Vineyards, the goal is to create an atmosphere of accessibility to the music and to foster interaction. With witty and informative commentary given on each piece, the experience becomes more like storytelling, where the music, the surroundings, the artists, and the audience all play a crucial role.
“Oftentimes we are only a few feet away from the audience, and to see and feel the energy between us is an experience you can’t beat,” said Gregorian. “It’s like nothing else — everyone really gets to be a part of the music.
Tickets for Music in the Vineyards concerts cost $60 and are now on sale. Tickets for the Sommerfest gala are $275 and are highly limited. The festival also offers free open rehearsals on Thursday afternoons in partnership with Napa Valley College, open rehearsals at The Meadows retirement community, and a closing night celebration ($145) at Meadowood Napa Valley on Aug. 23. For information call 707-258-5559, email info@musicinthevineyards.org, or visit MusicInTheVineyards.org.