Music in the Vineyards (MITV) is presenting its 31st season through August 24. The month-long chamber music festival offers a vibrant lineup of performances that engage local audiences in Napa Valley.
According to Artistic Director and co-founder Daria Adams, ticket sales for this year’s season have nearly matched those of pre-pandemic years. Like many classical music organizations and events, MITV saw a slow recovery in attendance after the end of the pandemic. But now, most of the festival’s four-week-long season is sold out.
Tickets remain available for some events, including the Ariel Quartet’s August 20 concert of works by Schubert, Britten, and Mendelssohn at the Hudson House on the historic Beringer Vineyards estate — the ensemble has performed together since meeting as middle schoolers in Israel.
MITV’s annual “Play-Along” concert also has tickets available for purchase. Attendees are instructed to bring an instrument to learn and perform Pachelbel’s Canon. All instruments are welcome, even those not found in a traditional orchestral setting; Adams recalled that one very young guest played on a pair of kitchen tongs last year.
“We don’t ‘dumb down’ music, but it’s very accessible,” Adams said.
Accessibility is in some ways the name of the game for MITV, which operates on a smaller scale — and budget — than other big-name classical music festivals in Northern California, such as Festival Napa Valley.
Adams, who determines each year’s programming with her husband and co-founder, Michael Adams, said MITV aims to keep the spotlight squarely on the music, as opposed to the “lifestyle” of their events. Adams said MITV prioritizes musical variety, works by female and living composers, and the occasional commissioned work.
“People are afraid of music they don't know, and they've learned to trust us,” Adams said. “They come eagerly waiting for the piece they don't know.”
Earlier this season, the festival featured a piece by Brazilian American composer Clarice Assad — the piece was commissioned specifically for MITV’s Fellowship String Quartet, a nationally-auditioned-for program.
MITV pairs its bold programming with acclaimed artists like the Pacifica Quartet and Grammy-winning guitarist Jason Vieaux. This year’s Fellowship String Quartet is a group of emerging artists from Rice University called the Pavone String Quartet. Pavone is set to collaborate with the acclaimed Pacifica Quartet in a performance of Mendelssohn’s String Octet at the “Play-Along” concert. The Pavone Quartet is also slated to perform a piece by Caroline Shaw at the event, in keeping with Adams’s goal of including at least one living composer in every program.
According to Adams, MITV plans to expand its offerings beyond the organization’s month-long festival. While the scale of its annual August programming will remain the same, she said MITV intends to bring chamber music ensembles to local schools, start a partnership with the Brannan Center in Calistoga, and host a lecture series.
“It’s a conversation we have often, like, ‘Okay, now that we live here, what other things can Music in the Vineyards do for the Napa community? What can we bring?’” Adams said.
Concerts and events for MITV’s 2025 season are set to run through Aug. 24, with ticket prices and availability varying. For more information, visit the festival’s website.