About Us

Since its founding in 1995, Music in the Vineyards (MITV) has become one of America’s premier summer chamber music festivals, guided by the vision and spirit of its founding Artistic Directors Michael Adams and Daria Tedeschi Adams. Set in the iconic wineries of the Napa Valley, they aimed to create a festival worthy of the world-class reputation of Napa’s food and wine.

Beginning with a modest house concert in January 1995 at the home of Michael’s parents, Gail and Harry Adams of Santa Rosa, the first season in August 1995 presented six concerts, involving just seven musicians. Today, the festival brings together a roster of world-class artists every summer for four weeks of intense music-making at a dozen Napa wineries, that also features lecture/demos, free open rehearsals, community concerts, and Not-So-Silent-Cinema, featuring classic silent movies with newly composed scores performed live.

From the beginning, Daria and Michael have been the artistic team that oversees the festival’s programming, and Michael’s signature program notes, delivered from-the-stage, have been a feature from day one. An indispensable part of MITV’s early success was due to the singular efforts of founding Executive Director Gail Adams, whose experience in corporate finance and arts administration guided the festival single-handedly for its first eight years.

MITV is indebted to our winery venue partners, who have been fundamental to our success—we’ve performed at over 40 of Napa’s finest at last count—and some have hosted festival concerts for many years. We have enjoyed notable long-term relationships with Silverado Vineyards, Clos Pegase Winery, Robert Mondavi Winery, Charles Krug Winery, Domaine Carneros, Chimney Rock Winery, Beringer Vineyards, Frog’s Leap Winery, Inglenook and Hess Persson Estates.

MITV’s commitment to nurture the art form of chamber music has resulted in newly-commissioned works from notable composers including Miguel del Águila, Daniel Brewbaker, Michael Stephen Brown, T.J. Cole, Aaron Jay Kernis, Raja Orr, Kevin Puts, Maria Schneider, David Evan Thomas, and John Wineglass. See below for a complete list. The festival maintains a strong commitment to music education in the Napa Valley, providing musical events every summer for seniors and children, community concerts, as well as a continuing relationship with the Napa Valley Youth Symphony.

Since 2009, MITV has been affiliated with the Klein International Competition of San Francisco, a partnership that has introduced some of today’s most exciting young artists to Napa Valley audiences while early in their careers. Each year, our Fellowship String Quartet program provides intensive mentoring and career training for the next generation of professional string quartets.