IMG Artists with Barrett Wiseman just completed the Ninth Annual Napa Valley Festival del Sole. This celebration of music, dance and the arts featured Napa’s wines, culinary experiences and wellness programs.
As Barrett Wiseman, the IMG Artists’ Chairman and the Festival’s Artistic Director said,
“IMG Artists is deeply gratified by the success of this year’s Festival, from record-breaking fundraising numbers to the many successful programs featuring preeminent musicians, dancers, vintners, chefs and more. We are thankful for the tremendously positive response from Festival attendees, as well as the entire Napa Valley region, to whom we remain grateful for their continued support and warm welcome. We couldn’t have achieved this success without the efforts of our Partner and Festival Director Rick Walker and the Festival staff, IMG Artists’ Festival Producer Charles Letourneau and the IMG Artists team, and the core lineup of extraordinary artists including Joshua Bell, Pinchas Zukerman, Polina Semionova, Alondra de la Parra, James Valenti, Dmitri Sitkovetsky, Matthew Polenzani, Nadine Sierra, James Valenti, Carlo Ponti, among many others. A special thanks goes out to our distinguished guests who made the “Bella Italia!” Tribute a wonderful success including Sophia Loren, Robert Redford, Whoopi Goldberg and Francis Ford Coppola. I would also like to thank the Napa Valley Festival Association Board and its Chairman Darioush Khaledi, Gala Chair Maggie Oetgen and the many extraordinary donors, vintner partners and sponsors that work with us on the Festival.”
Dr. Aaron P. Dworkin, the Founder and President of the Sphinx Organization said, “The opportunity to partner with Festival del Sole was simply invaluable. Sphinx was thrilled to feature its top musicians, whose commitment to artistic merit complemented the Festival’s own objectives. The Sphinx Symphony, as well as the Sphinx Virtuosi, were honored to share the stage with legendary artists and be able to bring their musicianship to share with the engaged and committed Napa Valley community. We are tremendously excited about the future of this partnership.”
Some of the special highlights of this year’s festival included the “Bella Italia!” tribute to Academy Award-winning actress Sophia Loren at the Far Niente wine estate. The tribute program included emcee Whoopi Goldberg, actor Robert Redford, director Francis Ford Coppola and others. In addition, during the festival the Sphinx Organization presented the Napa premiere of its Sphinx Virtuosi and Sphinx Symphony Orchestra with performances by both the Virtuosi and Symphony Orchestra.
Next year, the Napa Valley Festival del Sole will celebrate its tenth anniversary from July 17-26, 2015.