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Spoleto: European Flair
Just as spring comes to a close,Spoleto Festival USA opens in Charleston.
 Mark your calendar to visit Charleston during Spoleto Festival, May 24 - June 9, 2013.
World-Class Premieres
Internationally recognized as America’s premier performing arts festival, Spoleto Festival USA has presented more than 200 theater premieres. Notable past premieres and commissions include: Creve Coeur by Tennessee Williams; The American Clock by Arthur Miller; Peter and Wendy by Lee Breuer; and The Mechanical Organ by the Nikolais Dance Theatre. World-renowned artists that performed here before they achieved international fame include Renée Flemming, Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Yo-Yo Ma, the Emerson String Quartet and Jean-Yves Thibaudet.
The tradition continued in 2012 with the American premiere of the opera Kepler by Philip Glass. Sam Helfrich directed and Resident Conductor John Kennedy conducted Glass’ creation, which produces a majestic celestial sound as it explores the visionary dreams and prosaic nightmares of Johannes Kepler, the groundbreaking astronomer and mathematician who imagined “a continuous heavenly music only perceived by the mind.”
 In theater, Dublin’s Gate Theatre returned to Charleston with Noël Coward’s Hay Fever, a delicious send-up of bohemian eccentrics that has been called “one of the most perfectly engineered comedies of the century” by The Times of London. There was also the physical theater of Traces, a wickedly cool cabaret-circus that deftly weaves together snippets of the performers’ personal narratives with uncanny acrobatic twists and bends that are not familiar to most humans.
Over the 36 years of the festival, the Grammy award winners who have graced the stage here are too numerous to mention. If you attended the festival in the last few years, perhaps you saw Bela Fleck, Karrin Allyson, Dianne Reeves, Westminster Choir College, or any other number of performers that collectively have won more than 20 Grammy awards. This past year, KD Lang and Mavis Staples were among the headliners.
Musical Feast
 Chamber music is one the most popular genres of Spoleto Festival USA, with more than 30 performances a year, many twice daily. The Bank of America Chamber Music concerts are described as “the heart and soul of the festival,” and always feature a rotating roster of musicians and 11 different programs performed at the historic Dock Street Theatre. Music critic William Furtwangler called the Dock Street Theatre, “a fitting complement to the world’s best musicians. The acoustics in the newly renovated theater remain at the top of the list of local venues for music. Clarity and volume, with little reverb or reflections, plus top-down frequency reproduction, are the theater’s hallmarks.”
Geoff Nuttall, founder of St. Lawrence String Quartet, returned in 2012 to lead the chamber music program. As first violinist of this world-renowned foursome, he has performed more than 1,500 concerts throughout North and South America, Europe, Australia and Asia. Here in Charleston, Nuttall welcomed the return of many internationally celebrated musicians, including pianist Stephen Prutsman, who was recently appointed artistic director of the Cartagena International Festival of Music, and has been described as one of the most innovative musicians of his time. Cellist Alisa Weilerstein also joined Nuttall, along with violinist Jennifer Frautschi.
 The Little Spoleto
The City of Charleston’s Department of Cultural Affairs holds a parallel and complementary Piccolo Spoleto Festival, which brings another 700 cultural and performance events to the greater Charleston area. Focusing primarily on artists of the Southeast region, Piccolo Spoleto hosts 700 events in 17 days, transforming Charleston into an exhilarating celebration of performing, literary and visual arts. Piccolo Spoleto’s traditional program offerings include visual arts exhibits, classical music, jazz, dance, theater, poetry readings and many children’s activities. Many of Piccolo Spoleto’s events are free, but most music and theater productions are ticketed events that are generally less expensive than those at Spoleto Festival USA.
Please visit spoletousa.org for full details and ticket information.
Please check the events calendar to find out what's happening during your trip to Charleston. You'll also find great restaurant and evening entertainment ideas in Dining & Cuisine.
Italian luxury goods and Italian artisan creations. Enjoy shopping this unique collection of Italian furniture, ceramics, blown glass, marble, wrought iron, fabric and fine Italian fashions. Located in a renovated nineteenth century building in the heart of Charleston. The Museum at the Hidden Countship displays artifacts imported with special diplomatic permission from areas in Umbria. Browse precious works dating from 1530.
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Meet at Fleet! Casual, come-as-you-are, waterfront seafood restaurant. A destination unto itself. Housed in a 1940s retired naval building on the east side of the Charleston peninsula, Fleet Landing features fusion of classic and contemporary Southern seafood fare in a setting that celebrates the area’s waterfront heritage. Featured in Food & Wine Magazine in their trend spotting “Where to Go Next” column. Blue Plate Lunch Specials. Open 7-days a week.
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Nestled in the gardens behind the Wentworth Mansion is one of Charleston's hidden gems. Circa 1886, named for the year the Wentworth Mansion was built, is home to some of Charleston's finest fare. With an extensive wine list and contemporary cuisine, this five-star restaurant offers diners an intimate evening that won't soon be forgotten. AAA Four Diamond Award Charleston restaurant; “Top 100 New Restaurants” Conde’ Nast Magazine; Wine Spectator winner & Dirona Award Winner. |
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