Novack Concerts provide live music for Napa youth

Festival Napa Valley’s Novack Concert for Kids series returns Friday with two admission-free performances for local students, followed by a Q&A with participating musicians.

The concert series will kick off at 10 a.m. at the Napa Valley College Performing Arts Center and will follow with a 1:30 p.m. performance at the St. Helena Performing Arts Center.

The series provides opportunities for students to experience live music for free.

Concerts for Kids started during the pandemic to offer summertime virtual performances for the Boys & Girls Club of Napa Valley. Following the Novack family’s involvement, the program became the Novack Concert for Kids series.

“Kenneth and Deborah Novack stepped forward and said ‘We want to support kids having access to field trips to hear live music and we’d love if it could happen both during the school year and in the summertime,’” said, Lissa Gibbs, Festival Napa Valley’s director of education and communications.

The Novack Concerts welcome first graders through high school, providing opportunities for youth to experience live music, meet professional musicians, ask questions and gain knowledge about the importance of music in communities.

Gibbs said one of the largest obstacles for children in rural areas is transportation. Festival Napa Valley and the Novack family have partnered with Beau Wine Tours to offer free transportation to performances for participating public schools and nonprofit partners.

Festival Napa Valley’s access to an international network of renowned artists provides the organization with diverse programming to engage youth. In addition, the organization produces engaging curricula for students during select performances, according to the festival.

This year will mark the first Upvalley concert, to accommodate more of the county’s youth.

“The artists that we present are professional musicians,” Gibbs said. “At the end of each concert, we have a question and answer period for the students in the audience.”

For this series, violinist and singer Leah Zeger and guitarist Ira Gonzalez will play jazz and bossa nova music as the husband and wife duo, Leah and I.

“The musicians are all those who really identify a great deal with these young people. Often some of their first experiences with playing an instrument were in schools,” Gibbs said. “Their public school had an instrument program and that's how they started. So they're excited to share the story of their path and passion for the music they play.”

The Novack Concerts for Kids bring important exposure to music, she said, as well as opportunities for community engagement and bonding with other children in the county.

“It's really fun to see the kids engage with the musicians but also to see the audience engage with each other,” Gibbs said. “There aren’t many opportunities for kids from across our county to come together to experience something that's not a sports competition. So, it's a very memorable educational event, very powerful.”

Artists Zeger and Gonzalez are highly regarded musicians; Zeger has performed as a soloist as well as toured with renowned performers, such as Miley Cyrus, Stevie Wonder, Willie Nelson, Post Modern Jukebox and more, according to Festival Napa Valley.

Gonzalez leads ensembles for Katy Perry, Robin Thicke, The Coasters, Diana Ross and David Foster, according to the organization.

You can reach Intern Emma Molloy at emma.molloy@pressdemocrat.com.