Guide to summer classical music festivals on the North Coast

The summer classical music season is coming in hot, with festival ensembles setting up their stands from the wineries of Napa and Sonoma to the coastal hamlets of Mendocino and Cazadero.

There's something for everyone this summer, including opera and chamber music fans — you know who you are — plus a smattering of jazz, pop, film music and Americana thrown in for fun and good measure.

Here's the schedule of classical music festivals opening this month around the county.

Festival Napa Valley: Now in its 14th year, Festival Napa Valley features the Festival Orchestra performing John William's score to a screening of 'Star Wars; A New Hope' at Lincoln Theater on July 18; and the Festival Orchestra Napa presenting 'Song to the Moon: 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Landing,' featuring soprano Adriana Chuchman and works by Holst, Dvorak and more at Lincoln Theater on July 20. The Festival Live! Chamber Series also returns with 12 free concerts at locations throughout the Napa Valley, and for the first time, there will be a Concert for Kids featuring Karen LeFrak's orchestral work based on the children's book 'Sleepover at the Museum,' at Lincoln Theater on July 15. The festival concludes on July 21 with YouTube sensation and Postmodern Jukebox star Robyn Adele Anderson at Alpha Omega Winery in St. Helena. festivalnapavalley.org.

Mendocino Music Festival: Located in various venues in the town of Mendocino, this crossover festival features Donizetti's 'L'Elisir d'Amore' opera on July 19; Festival Big Band featuring Kim Nalley in a 'Tribute to Aretha' on July 20; the Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band on July 25; and Sweet Honey in the Rock on July 26. The festival concludes with the Festival Orchestra and Chorus performing Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 on July 27. mendocinomusic.org

PianoSonoma Music Festival: Now in its sixth year at the Green Music Center's Schroeder Hall at Sonoma State University, this festival, founded by pianists Jessica and Michael Shinn, brings together current conservatory music majors/recent graduates with working musicians to collaborate on a series of Vino & Vibrato concerts on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from July 23 to Aug. 1 as well as public master classes held on July 24 and July 31. New this year, the Tuesday concerts begin with pre-concert 'artist exchanges.' All events include a wine tasting beforehand featuring Cartograph wines. Tickets cost $15 for one concert, $12 for two or more concerts. pianoSonoma.org

Santa Rosa Symphony: As part of Summer at the Green, the symphony will present a free community concert featuring Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons' with local residents' photos of Sonoma County at 7 p.m. July 28 at the Green Music Center's Weill Hall and Lawn, Sonoma State University. Tickets are required and became available on Tuesday, July 9, at srsymphony.org or 546-8742. The symphony also will screen 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' with a live performance of the epic score at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 24. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. Tickets cost $25 to $85. gmc.sonoma.edu.