The Napa County Arts & Culture Advisory Committee selected 18 organizations as the recipients of the committee’s 2024-25 Arts, Culture & Heritage Grant Awards totaling $242,753 in funds.
The stage lights had sat dim, cold and dusty for months.
Just earlier this year they had illuminated legions of the Napa Valley Youth Symphonyâs young musicians as they sat inside the Lincoln Theater, some with their chins tucked neatly into violas or violins, others with their fingers pressed delicately over the keys of a clarinet or flute.
Now those same musicians practice and perform from their homes, using Zoom to coordinate with one another as best they can, according to Shelley Surh, the symphonyâs executive director.
âThatâs been hard (for them) because rehearsing via Zoom is basically a solo at a time â with Zoom audio, you canât play together, because you canât hear each other,â Surh explained.