Starting Friday and for 17 days, Charleston will host world-class artists, performers, musicians as part of Spoleto Festival USA.
The festival – started in 1977 – features performances by renowned artists as well as emerging performers in disciplines ranging from opera, theater, music theater, dance, and chamber, symphonic, choral, and jazz music, to the visual arts. More than 70,000 people attend Spoleto events each year, making it a major event for tourists and locals alike.
Festival highlights include:
- The American premiere of Toshio Hosokawa’s contemporary opera “Matsukaze” directed by the acclaimed Chen Shi-Zheng.
- A double-bill of rarely performed Italian operas, Puccini’s “Le Villi” and Giordano’s “Mese Mariano.”
- Theater lineup featuring the American premiere of a new production of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by England’s Bristol Old Vic and South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company, the creative team behind “War Horse.”
- Actor/director Steven Berkoff’s distinctive adaptation of Sophocles’ classical Greek tragedy, “Oedipus.”
- A multi-media theatrical production of both volumes of the live-action graphic novel “The Intergalactic Nemesis.”
- Joseph Flummerfelt’s farewell appearance as Spoleto’s artistic director for choral activities conducting a performance of Verdi’s “Messa da Requiem.”
- Dance series including the internationally renowned Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía and Compagnie Käfig, along with performances by tap phenom Jared Grimes and traditional Indian dancer Shantala Shivalingappa.
- Concerts by Grammy Award–winning singer/songwriter Rosanne Cash and Grammy-nominated jazz singer Gregory Porter.
The festival ends with a grand finale at Middleton Place featuring the musical stylings of The Red Stick Ramblers and their hybrid of Cajun, honky-tonk and swing. The event also features a beer garden and post-concert fireworks show.
