Auction Lots

Olsen will be one of six speakers at the inaugural Music and Wellness Symposium on July 6 at CIA at Copia during Festival Napa Valley 2025 summer season. Symposium participants will speak on topics ranging from how music impacts the brain and can help dementia patients to strategies for integrating music into daily health and wellness. 

Festival Napa Valley, in partnership with the Culinary Institute of America at Copia, will present “The Beauty of Napa Valley: Photography of Bob McClenahan” from June 18 through Sept. 1. The exhibition features 16 framed photographs selected from a portfolio McClenahan assembled shortly before his passing in March. Admission is free. All works are available for acquisition, with 100% of proceeds supporting a college scholarship fund for McClenahan’s two teenage sons.

More than just a program for music lovers, Festival Napa Valley - presented by the nonprofit Napa Valley Festival Association—always offers a showcase of talent, and this year is no exception. The 2025 summer season will feature international and emerging artists, including Jon Batiste, Joyce DiDonato, and Tiler Peck, with the North American debut of the Versailles Royal Opera and a special appearance by the Pacific Symphony.

Festival Napa Valley, in collaboration with the Culinary Institute of America at Copia, presents “The Beauty of Napa Valley: Photography of Bob McClenahan,” on view June 18 through September 1, 2025, at CIA at Copia in downtown Napa. The show honors the photographer’s legacy with a selection of images drawn from a portfolio McClenahan assembled shortly before his untimely passing from cancer in March 2025.

The artistic temperature is heating up as Festival Napa Valley trumpets its 19th season of sybaritic summer delights. This 14-day celebration (July 5–20) is a feast for the senses as more than 200 musicians from around the world — joining forces with top toques and storied vintners — alight at a variety of venues, five-star resorts, and exquisite vineyard estates that dot this verdant valley.

Crowning the opening weekend of Festival Napa Valley’s Summer Season, the Arts for All Gala is one of the nation's premier fundraisers for education and the arts. Proceeds fund programs that empower youth through music education and wellness, as well as free and affordable concerts, and scholarships. Ahead of the Gala on July 13, Freeman’s I Hindman CEO, Alyssa Quinlan, sat down with President and CEO of Festival Napa Valley, Rick Walker, to discuss how music, wine, and philanthropy come together in this unique experience in the heart of the Napa Valley each summer.

“Instead of just hearing, you’re also getting to see the visual component with that piece,” Peck said. Charles Krug Winery will be the site of Festival Napa Valley’s main stage, which Peck said is an “incredible venue” that allowed her team “so much room to get creative” with filling up the space. Four local vendors will rotate at Charles Krug, which also features a children’s zone in order to better accommodate families. 

The annual summer festival of music, wine and food returns with events at the Culinary Institute of America, Jarvis Conservatory and the Meritage Resort in Napa, Charles Krug Winery in St. Helena, Nickel & Nickel in Oakville, and other locations. Scheduled highlights include the Royal Opera of Versailles performing Donizetti’s “La Fille du régiment,” a documentary film screening of “Flicka,” followed by a Q&A with mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, appearances by Jon Batiste, pianist Forrest Eimold performing works by Gordon Getty and more.

All the world’s a stage” may be an oft-quoted Shakespearean metaphor, but it couldn’t be more fitting for the arrival of FESTIVAL NAPA VALLEY, NorCal wine country’s popular showcase of internationally recognized and emerging talent across classical, jazz, opera, contemporary, and dance, along with unrivaled food, wine, and hospitality experiences throughout its 16-day schedule. The 2025 Summer Season features more than 200 artists, including mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, celebrated French conductor Stéphane Denève, ballet dancer Tiler Peck, the renowned Pacific Symphony, and the North American debut of the Versailles Royal Opera. 

Celebrated auctioneer and author Lydia Fenet will lead bidding for the evening, which includes a performance by seven-time GRAMMY® and Oscar®-winner Jon Batiste and a dinner by James Beard Award-winning chef Rogelio Garcia of Four Seasons Resort and Residences Napa Valley paired with exceptional House of Far Niente wines. 

Peck has achieved an unusually wide following for a ballet dancer. Recently, she starred as Eva Cullman in Amy Sherman-Palladino’s Amazon Prime series Étoile, and her latest children’s book, XO Ballerina Big Sis, which was written to encourage young dancers, will be published in October by Penguin Random House. In late June, she married fellow NYCB principal Roman Mejia, with whom she will share the stage at Festival Napa Valley’s ‘Evening of Dance’ on July 19.

Gala chairs Mary Beth and David Shimmon have certainly raised the bar for Festival Napa Valley’s tentpole fundraiser benefiting arts education. This year, the Shimmons and co-hosts including Leslie and Rich Frank helped bring New Orleans to Nickel & Nickel winery in honor of the night’s A-list musical guest, Jon Batiste, who started his career in the Big Easy.

Napa Valley's philanthropic spirit reached new heights on July 13 as the Arts for All Gala at Nickel & Nickel raised a stunning $5 million, cementing Festival Napa Valley's position among America's most successful arts fundraisers.

Festival Napa Valley’s Arts for All Gala shattered its fundraising record on July 13, raising an extraordinary $5 million at the sold-out celebration held at Nickel & Nickel winery. Gala Chair Mary Beth Shimmon orchestrated an evening that seamlessly blended world-class entertainment with committed philanthropy, as seven-time Grammy and Oscar winner Jon Batiste delivered a stirring performance against the backdrop of Far Niente’s lush vineyards.

 Gaetano Donizetti’s La fille du régiment seems like a grand opera, certainly when you see singers straining to fill a big auditorium. But in Opéra Royal Château de Versailles’s historically informed production, which reached the Festival Napa Valley Stage at Charles Krug Winery on July 18, the show was restored, you might say, to its right size and staged for nimble comedy rather than showstopping vocal moments.

The Wine Tourism Services regional award spotlights a wine tourism business for elevating the wine region through creative programming, driving visitation and improving the visitor experience. The 2026 winner is Festival Napa Valley.

Each summer, Festival Napa Valley transforms the sun-drenched landscape of California wine country into a sweeping celebration of classical music, opera, jazz, and dance. The 2025 festival, held from July 3 to 21, featured 63 events across its main stage and satellite venues, offering an expansive yet intimate experience for artists and audiences alike. For the third year, Meyer Sound systems worked with Sound Image, a Clair Global brand, to support diverse performances with clear, balanced sound in every seat and on every lawn.

Festival Napa Valley honored vintners Robin and Michelle Baggett with a celebratory gathering on Thursday, September 11, 2025. Hosted by incoming Festival board chairman Steven Stull and his wife Claire at their stunning home overlooking Napa Valley, the event celebrated Robin’s distinguished tenure as chairman of the board and highlighted the couple’s many enduring contributions to Napa County youth, the arts, education, and community causes.

Festival Napa Valley's MusicTime in the Library program is expanding to American Canyon, Calistoga, and St. Helena beginning this fall.