Music in the Vineyards

Daria Tedeschi Adams,  Artistic Director & Violin

Violinist Daria Tedeschi Adams, the founding Co-Artistic Director of Music in the Vineyards, recently retired after a long career with the world-renowned Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO) where she was featured in solo and chamber music performances. She traveled the world with the SPCO on tours to Asia, Europe and across North America. In 2017, the SPCO won a Grammy for Best Small Ensemble Performance with violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja. At both MITV and the SPCO, Daria has earned a reputation for developing innovative concert presentations. Her “musical choreography” of both traditional and new music, has enhanced the listener experience in exciting new ways. Daria has maintained a robust teaching studio over 25 years. Earlier in her career, she spent four years playing in the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, where she took an interest in a musician lurking suspiciously in the back of the pit, her current husband. His interest remains mutual. She has just relocated to Napa Valley this summer and is ready to live the good life in CA!

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Michael Adams, Artistic Director & Host

Michael has carved out a unique career that has led down many roads: as a chamber musician, orchestral player, author, public radio host, and — along with his violinist wife Daria — the founding Co-Artistic Director of Music in the Vineyards. As MITV’s concert commentator, Michael loves to make each composer more human — through insightful stories, explanations and analysis — creating multiple entry points into their music for the listener. Since retiring from the Minnesota Orchestra, Michael has been the Program Annotator for the Schubert Club of Minnesota, the region’s oldest concert series. Michael joined the Minnesota Orchestra viola section in 1988 at the invitation of conductor Edo de Waart, following a successful stint as producer and host for classical WCAL-FM in Minneapolis/St. Paul, and later, for Minnesota Public Radio. Michael and Daria are excited to finally establish permanent roots in Napa this summer, after 30 years of “partial” residency every August and look forward to exploring more of California. 

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Angela Lee, Cello

A graduate of The Juilliard School and Yale School of Music, cellist Angela Lee is a recipient of a Fulbright scholarship to study in London with William Pleeth, a grant from the Foundation for American Musicians in Europe, the Jury Prize in the Naumburg International Cello Competition, and a cello performance fellowship from the American-Scandinavian Foundation. She is a founding member of The Lee Trio, which won top prizes in the Kuhmo International Chamber Music Competition in Finland and the Gaetano Zinetti International Chamber Music Competition in Italy. In its third decade, the Trio regularly gives master classes and performances worldwide while commissioning and premiering works of numerous living composers and has recordings on Delos, Innova, and the Chelsea Music Festival Records labels. The Trio's latest album, Midsummer Night Magic, was released to critical acclaim.

Using music to foster peace and goodwill, Angela Lee has made humanitarian trips to the Republic of the Philippines and the former Yugoslavia. While on a U.N.-sanctioned tour of six war-torn cities throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina, she performed for NATO troops and displaced civilians. As a member of Ensemble SF since 2022, she continues to delve into a vast array of chamber music, allowing this multi-faceted art form to inspire and connect with others in unconventional settings. She also devotes time to performing with Orquesta Tipica Tarareando, while exploring the richness of the "Golden Era" of Argentine Tango. Ms. Lee has been coaching chamber music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music since 2017 and serves on the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra Alumni Association Leadership Council and on the Board of The Resonance Project, which promotes empathy through live music. She plays on a 1762 Nicolo Gagliano cello from Naples.

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Eric Zivian, Piano

Eric Zivian is a pianist, fortepianist, and composer. He is founder and Music Director of the Valley of the Moon Music Festival in Sonoma, specializing in Classical and Romantic music on period instruments.

In recent years, Eric performed the Mozart C minor Concerto with the Portland Baroque Orchestra and the Beethoven Choral Fantasy with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. He has also soloed with the Santa Rosa Symphony and the Toronto Symphony, among others. 

Eric has performed extensively on fortepiano since 2000. At the height of the pandemic, Eric livestreamed all 32 Beethoven piano sonatas on period pianos. 

Eric's compositions have been performed widely in the United States and in Tokyo, Japan. He was awarded an ASCAP Jacob Druckman Memorial Commission to compose an orchestral work, Three Character Pieces, which was premiered by the Seattle Symphony in March 1998.

Eric received degrees in piano and composition from Curtis, Juilliard, and the Yale School of Music. He studied piano with Gary Graffman and Peter Serkin and composition with Ned Rorem, Jacob Druckman, and Martin Bresnick. He attended the Tanglewood Music Center as a performer and composer. 

Music in the Vineyards is a renowned chamber music festival held each August in the stunning winery settings of Napa Valley. Audiences enjoy performances by distinguished musicians, with complimentary wine tastings at intermission and breathtaking vineyard views. Since its founding in 1995 by Artistic Directors Michael and Daria Adams, the festival has become one of America’s premier summer chamber music events—an experience where great music and the spirit of wine country meet in intimate, unforgettable settings.

As part of the Festival’s mission to connect artists with the community, Music in the Vineyards offers a variety of engagement opportunities including free open rehearsals, coaching for young music students and free performances for seniors and children. For the past eight years, the Fellowship String Quartet Program has furthered this mission by identifying and nurturing outstanding emerging ensembles, ensuring the future of chamber music remains vibrant and inspiring.

More information at musicinthevineyards.org.