This spring Zephyr had an exciting fund raising event in downtown San Francisco. On March 23, 2006, Chairwoman Julia Cheng welcomed nearly 100 guests to the elegant Metropolitan Club on Sutter Street, where a concert by Zephyr faculty performers was followed by a tasting of wines and cheese from Northern Italy. The honorary chairman of this event was the Italian Consul General to San Francisco, Roberto Falaschi.

Violinists Felicia Moye and Fumino Ando flew in from Oklahoma and Oregon, respectively, and were joined by violist Benjamin Simon, cellist Sarah Hong and pianist Mack McCray in a warmly received performance of Dvorak's Piano Quintet Opus 81. Following this the guests greatly enjoyed Barbaresco and Langhe wines supplied by Enoteca Regionale del Barbaresco, and a huge wheel of Valle d'Aosta Fontina cheese flown in from the commune of Courmeyeur.

The next evening a second wine-tasting and concert took place at the Museo Italo Americano, where nationally known mezzo soprano Donna Bruno performed Respighi's "Tramonto", and clarinetist Lucia Marino flew from Italy to join Zephyr players Fumino Ando and Erika Wong (violinists), Beeri Moalem (violist), and Sarah Hong (cellist) in Mozart's clarinet quintet.
At each event Barbaresco had sent wine experts Marisa Fogliati and Andrea Vacca to talk about the wines. The spirit of Zephyr seemed to permeate the days of preparation and concerts. Everybody involved enjoyed meeting the Italian guests, who in turn fell in love with San Francisco.