Margrit Biever Mondavi got a surprise last Thursday at a board meeting of Napa Valley Unified School District where she had come to present a check for $10,000 — funds raised during the Robert Mondavi Winery’s Summer Festival concerts. 

Travis Rogers, director of the Napa High choral music program, introduced Lauren Robinson and Steve Sandy, who play Marian the Librarian and Harold Hill in Napa High School’s upcoming production of “The Music Man” — and gave Mondavi a preview of the kind of programs the donation helps support.

“It gives us so much pleasure and joy to present this donation,” Mondavi said. “We feel art has been such a part of our winery and our community, and it is so important to support the development of a new generation of theater-goers, music lovers and artists.”

 John Glaser, superintendent of Napa Valley Unified School District, noted that despite funding constraints, “angels” like Mondavi help make many things possible for students. “We really appreciate her support and the partnership we have with our community,” he said. “We have a powerful tradition of focusing on the arts and it is a thrill to see what it does to the lives of our students, and all of us.”

The Robert Mondavi Winery’s long-standing tradition of support for the local arts community began with its first fundraising concerts in 1969. The Summer Festival lineup for 2007 will be announced shortly; information and tickets will be available at www.robertmondaviwinery.com.

Meanwhile Jamie Butler, who directs Napa’s thriving choral music programs along with Rogers, put together a brilliant show Friday night that — at $5 a ticket — had to be the best entertainment deal in town. “The Second (Hopefully) Annual A Capella Extravaganza” brought together Afterglow, the UC Davis group, AiR (Artists in Resonance) from UC Berkeley; ‘Til Dawn, an award-winning teen group from Youth in Arts of Marin County to perform onstage along with Napa’s own Vocal Music Workshop, a 10-member a capella group. And this was just the  prelude to a riveting performance by the House Jacks, the original “rock band without instruments” from San Francisco. The five member group of pioneering musicians, who have performed around the world, paid tribute to the youngers singers in the program, noting they had never shared the stage with a more talented performers. And one member of House Jacks, gazing around the renovated District Auditorium, added, “and if my high school had had such an auditorium, I would have taken five or six years to graduate.”

Butler noted that his Vocal Music Workshop raised the money to bring House Jacks to Napa through their own performances. The audience was packed with everyone from senior citizens to high school singers. One does indeed hope it will become an annual event.

“Why Drawing? Why Now?” Artists Tucker Schwarz, Taravat Telapasand and Weston Teruya join di Rosa Preserve curator Michael Schwager in a panel discussion about the resurgence of drawing in contemporary art, in conjunction with the exhibit “Graphic: New Bay Area Drawing” on view in the Gatehouse Gallery through March 10.

The panel is Feb. 15 at 6:30 p.m. The cost is $10 general; $5 for di Rosa members. To reserve a place call, 226-5991 ext. 47. Di Rosa Preserve, Art and Nature is at 5200 Carneros Highway (Highway 121).

Drop-in visitors are welcome  at the Gatehouse Gallery Tuesday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. On Saturday, Gatehouse Gallery open for those with a tour reservation. Call 226-5991 ext. 25 for information about tours of the Preserve.

Gordon Huether’s “Metal Matters” opens at Robert Mondavi Winery Sunday. Huether, who grew up in Napa, is well known in town not only for his art but for his civic involvement and support of the arts.

Huether founded his studio in 1987 to create large scale art installations. His first public art project in 1989 was for the University of Alaska’s Geophysical Institute; he has been awarded more than 40 public art awards since.

For 25 years, Huether was known as a glass artist but more than a decade ago, he began exploring distressed metal that has been painted by  nature — fire, water, heat, cold and age.

“These random acts of nature are a reminder of how nature will always reclaim what belongs to her,” Huether noted.

“Metal Matters” will be shown in the Vineyard Room at the winery through April 12 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.