performers
Festival Orchestra Napa
Festival Orchestra Napa is an all-star ensemble that brings together principal players from major international orchestras and faculty from renowned colleges and conservatories, together with participants from the Frost School at Festival Napa Valley Blackburn Music Academy.
Centered around a core of Frost School of Music faculty, the orchestra also includes hand-picked musicians from ensembles, such as the San Francisco Symphony, MET Opera Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Houston Symphony, and Atlanta Symphony, among others.
Festival Orchestra Napa’s appearance is made possible through a generous gift from Tatiana and Gerret Copeland, proprietors of Bouchaine Vineyards.
Performances
Festival Napa Valley kicks off its 17th season with a celebratory evening featuring two beloved masterpieces and one world premiere. The concert opens with a new work by rising young composer Yang Bao. Spanish guitarist Pablo Sáinz Villegas takes center stage for Joaquín Rodrigo’s iconic Concierto de Aranjuez. The evening culminates with pianist Alexander Malofeev performing Sergei Rachmaninoff’s lush Piano Concerto No. 2 – a fitting tribute to one of the world’s greatest composers on his 150th Anniversary. Kyle Dickson, 2023 recipient of the Joel Revzen Conducting Fellowship, leads Festival Orchestra Napa.
Maestro Constantine Orbelian leads Festival Orchestra Napa and a stellar lineup of soloists in Seasons of Hope, an evening of works featuring stories of courage, sacrifice, and hope. Cellist Kristina Reiko Cooper and vocal ensemble Volti perform Lera Auerbach’s Symphony No. 6, Vessels of Light, a piece dedicated to the extraordinary heroism of Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese diplomat who saved thousands of Jewish refugees during World War II.
Vocalists from the Manetti Shrem Summer Conservatory join musicians from Festival Orchestra Napa at the Jackson Family Wines Amphitheater for a selection of scenes from favorite operas as well as undiscovered treasures.
Gaetano Donizetti's Don Pasquale
The luminous Spanish soprano Serena Sáenz makes her U.S. debut as Norina in Donizetti’s classic comedy, Don Pasquale. The stellar cast includes tenor Xabier Aduaga as Ernesto, tenor Alexey Lavrov as Dr. Malatesta, and baritone Lucas Meachem as Don Pasquale. Constantine Orbelian leads Festival Orchestra Napa in this enduring tale of love and deception. Jean-Romain Vesperini directs.
Festival Orchestra Napa draws the season to an exuberant close with two musical masterpieces: Stravinsky’s spirited Petrushka and Rachmaninoff’s immortal Symphonic Dances, the composer’s last major work. Kyle Dickson, 2023 recipient of the Joel Revzen Conducting Fellowship, leads Festival Orchestra Napa.