The Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts officially opened last week, kicking off a festival of performances by international, regional and campus groups. Included were concerts by the San Francisco Symphony and mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson and the aerial artistry of Project Bandaloop. The center's inaugural season will feature more than 160 performances and lectures.

"With the opening of Mondavi Center, we not only enter a new era of opportunity in arts education for our students, but we also celebrate the creation of a valuable and lasting cultural resource for the entire region," Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef said, during last Thursday's ribbon-cutting. "I firmly believe that every arts organization, every audience member, every performing artist and every student from the Napa Valley to the Lake Tahoe basin will be enriched beyond measure by this facility and its programs.