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“A feast for the senses...”

The story of Napa Valley Festival del Sole is one of the merging of vision, experience and collaboration that has created what the New York Times describes as a “feast for the senses.” 

Dedicated to enriching the region's cultural and economic vitality by presenting performances of the highest international quality, the festival offers over 20 concerts each year featuring internationally renowned artists and ensembles.  These performances take place in settings as diverse as candlelit wine cellars to historic theaters to outdoor amphitheatres surrounded by lush vineyards. 

As the festival’s names suggests, the story starts in Italy where IMG Artists Chairman Barrett Wissman and his wife, cellist Nina Kotova, dreamed of organizing a festival where friends could make music in a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Together with their neighbor Frances Mayes, author of Under the Tuscan Sun, they launched the Tuscan Sun Festival in Cortona in 2003.

Around the same time, San Francisco Bay Area attorney and arts manager Richard Walker, Robert and Margrit Mondavi, and other Napa Valley leaders, were developing plans for an international festival that would define Napa as a cultural destination. When Richard Walker and Barrett Wissman met, it was only natural for them to join forces to create Napa Valley Festival del Sole.

The first season, in Summer 2006, was organized in a remarkable three months. The founders were greatly assisted in this effort by the generous support of prominent Napa vintners and resorts, and dedicated patrons, supporters and volunteers. From inception, the festival has enjoyed the community’s goodwill and active involvement, enabling Festival del Sole to build from strength to strength. 

Napa's most prestigious wineries and estates open their doors for spectacular Vintner's Luncheons, gourmet dinners and other special events throughout the festival, showcasing the extraordinary hospitality, wine and cuisine for which Napa Valley is justly famous.

Special programs include the Bouchaine Young Artist Series, admission-free concerts featuring gifted young musicians who will be awarded scholarships by Gerret and Tatiana Copeland, Proprietors of Bouchaine Vineyards; the Dede Wilsey Dance Series, enabling the festival to present the best in ballet and dance; and the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Vocal Arts Series, bringing top stars from the world of opera to Festival del Sole stages each season.

The festival operates under the auspices of Napa Valley Festival Association, a not-for-profit charitable organization, through the leadership of a dedicated Board of Directors, a talented professional staff, committed volunteers, and a growing roster of enthusiastic and loyal supporters.

With world-class concerts in intimate settings, and a warm and inviting atmosphere for artists and guests alike, Napa Valley Festival del Sole has earned its reputation as "California wine country's top summer festival" (Travel + Leisure) and "one of the hottest tickets on the global classical music circuit" (Diablo Magazine).