Leigh Webber Photography
Each Spring, the city of Charleston’s historic theaters, churches and outdoor spaces come to life with performances by world-renowned artists as part of the annual 17-day, international Spoleto Festival. The festival showcases established artists and emerging performers in opera, theater, and dance as well as chamber, symphonic, choral and jazz music. Currently in its 47th season, Spoleto Festival USA is internationally recognized as America’s premier performing arts festival. But why Charleston, and what does the city have to offer that attracted such an acclaimed and recognized performance of the arts?
“When Spoleto’s founder, Gian Carlo Menotti, sought a location for a sister festival to his Festival of Two Worlds, which he initiated in Italy in 1958, he immediately recognized Charleston as the ideal location,” said Jenny Ouellette, the festival’s Associate Director of Media Relations and Communications.
Menotti was inspired by Charleston’s similarity to the ‘old world’ charm of Spoleto, Italy, finding that the city is packed with stunning natural beauty, an impressive array of preserved historical architecture and a wealth of performance venues.
Mena Hanna, Spoleto’s current General Director and CEO recognizes Charleston as a fundamental keystone to Spoleto’s 2023 season.
“Charleston is a port city, a collision of different cultures,” said Hanna. “Spoleto epitomizes this idea, yet also adds to it a dynamism of artistic endeavors that are at once timely and universal. Works reinvent age-old stories for this time and place—from a South African choreographer’s redux of The Rite of Spring to an American actor’s vivid adaptation of Homer’s Iliad.”
The Spoleto Festival offers a unique blend of an extraordinary 300 local, national and international performing artists.
“We have companies from more than 11 different countries, from as far as Rwanda, South Africa, China, and Scotland,” said Ouellette. “From June 7 to 11, for example, an Australian physical theater company, Gravity & Other Myths, performs a US premiere work: Out of Chaos. It’s a high-flying display of acrobatics.
“On June 9, Jonathon Heyward conducts the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra,” continued Ouellette. “Heyward is perhaps one of the most promising young conductors, as he is the next music director of the Baltimore Symphony and was just named the next music director of the Mostly Mozart festival in New York. Despite Heyward’s international acclaim. The concert on June 9 is quite special as he is a Charleston native! He will be making his official Spoleto debut in his hometown, leading 100 Spoleto Orchestra members who reflect nine countries and 28 states.”
Spoleto Festival USA has held a longstanding mission to promote the work of emerging talent, catalyzing countless breakthroughs for the world’s most promising artists.
“Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, for instance, first appeared at Spoleto in Dido and Aeneas in 2001, and today headlines productions with The Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and English National Opera, among other major houses,” said Ouellette. “At the 2023 Festival, he and cabaret star Justin Vivian Bond bring their acclaimed Only an Octave Apart from June 7 to 11, a brilliant pop-meets-opera-meets-cabaret hybrid—a hilarious yet moving celebration of contrasts.”
“Tenor Jamez McCorkle, too, was thrust into the international spotlight following Spoleto performances: first as Lensky in Eugene Onegin in 2017 and in the title role of the 2022 world premiere opera Omar,” added Ouellette. “This season, McCorkle performed A Poet’s Love from May 26 through 30, a Festival-commissioned staged adaptation of Robert Schumann’s Dichterliebe, in which he accompanies himself through the German romantic song cycle.”
“Similarly, tap dancer and choreographer Ayodele Casel’s breakout work, While I Have the Floor, a 2017 Spoleto commission, propelled her choreographic career to critically acclaimed creations for New York City Center and, recently, the revival of Funny Girl on Broadway,” concluded Ouellette. “Over opening weekend in 2023, Casel presented Chasing Magic from May 27 through 29, a work for six tap dancers that incorporated live musicians, including jazz pianist Arturo O’Farrill.”
Locals and tourists alike can find Spoleto’s performances in magnificent venues throughout the greater Charleston peninsula and beyond. This year, the festival once again utilized the Dock Street Theatre where twice daily chamber music concerts filled the air. The Dock Street Theatre will also be the site for evening theater productions including An Iliad and Only an Octave Apart, which runs June 7 through 11.
This year, for the first time, Spoleto used the Queen Street Playhouse for the world premiere staging of A Poet’s Love as well as a new “Jazz at the Playhouse” series.
Additionally, the Gaillard serves as a mainstage for Spoleto’s opera, Vanessa running June 6 through 10, as well as the Festival Orchestra showcase series June 5, 7, and 9. The Gaillard will also showcase the Scottish Ballet’s rendition of The Crucible.
The College of Charleston also played a major role as a partner of Spoleto, where the festival utilizes the Cistern Yard for beloved evening concerts under the oaks, and the Sottile Theatre serves as a versatile backdrop for a wide variety of dance, choral, and jazz concerts.
Festival Hall, which is operated by Spoleto, hosted two music concerts, a US Premiere play, and the US premiere of Out of Chaos from June 7 through 11. Other local venues for the festival include St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church and Firefly Distillery.
Those interested in immersing themselves in this historical and artistic display of talent can purchase tickets for performances at spoletousa.org.
Leigh Webber Photography
Leigh Webber Photography
