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Napa Valley may have many delights, and for residents and many guests, one of them is its peace and quiet. Communities here are small, and tend to be affluent. Which is by way of saying that you won't find big-city nightlife here, and won't find a lot of hoe-downs or honky-tonks, either. There are bars, sure, but Wine Country propriety, noise ordinances, and the amount of wine consumed as part of the job all militate against raucous, after-hour saloons.
What you will find, albeit in more specialized and rarified formats, is culture. Classical. Jazz. The Arts. Primarily in a festival format, and often at wineries.
Arts Groups and Festivals
The Napa Valley Symphony, an unsung (no pun intended) but quite capable ensemble, plays year round in Yountville's Lincoln Theatre, with summer appearances at the Robert Mondavi Winery and occasionally elsewhere in the valley.
While Napa's Opera House now functions primarily as a civic center, the Jarvis Conservatory puts on an energetic program of operas, as well as Spanish-language zarzuelas. They're located at 2970 Monticello Road in Napa.
Chamber concerts and recitals are held regularly at Napa's First Methodist Church. (+1 707 252 7122 for the latest schedule).
The Napa Valley Stage Company (+1 707 257 6872) mounts productions May through December around the county.
Under the spreading oaks of Skyline Park, the Napa Valley Wine Festival features the work of songwriters and musicians in a series of concerts on three continuous stages, with attendant music workshops, gourmet food, and, of course, Napa Valley wines.
Calistoga's Napa Valley Blues Festival may be one exception to the rule. Big beats and jive talk rule the stage.
The Wineries
The foremost cultural nexus of the Napa Valley is not an arts center or symphony hall, it's -- and this should hardly surprise -- a winery. And not just any winery -- Robert Mondavi's. For years, Oakville's Mondavi Winery has been putting on concerts and series at their arts center. Their summer festival is a big attraction, of which the Napa Valley Symphony is a mainstay, but smaller ensembles and solo artists, as well as jazz and popular musicians, put in appearances both in the summer series and throughout the year.
Domaine Chandon, Niebaum-Coppola Estate, Charles Krug and others put on occasional concerts and art exhibits, and the Napa Valley Wine Train has a semi-annual "jazz train," as well.
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