Festival Napa Valley recently premiered two pieces of Gordon Getty’s. On July 16, 2021, renowned operatic soprano Lisette Oropesa sang “Kathie’s Aria” from his new opera Goodbye, Mr. Chips as an encore in her opening night recital on the picturesque outdoor stage at Charles Krug Winery. It was the first live performance of the aria. The complete opera is currently being made into a film.

And on July 20, cellist Matt Haimovitz premiered Spring Song, a piece he commissioned Gordon Getty to write as part of his large-scale series The Primavera Project, inspired by Botticelli’s painting Primavera and Charline von Heyl’s triptych Primavera 2020. The piece was 1 of 81 commissions for solo cello, including works by Jake Heggie, Missy Mazzoli, Nico Muhly, Luna Pearl Woolf and Philip Glass.