Blog

Spoleto Festival USA, the country’s premier performing arts festival, returns May 24 to June 9, 2024 with a star-studded lineup of more than 100 events in venues throughout Charleston, South Carolina. Tickets, starting at $25, are available for purchase online today, January 26. The ambitious […]

By Paul Wiancko My father Gene used to tell me that the average person changes careers seven times. In his own lifetime, he enjoyed successful stints in engineering, cartography, and geophysics, before ending up in documentary filmmaking. At first, I interpreted this oft-mentioned fact as […]

Mother’s Day is the perfect time to reflect on the special role that mothers play in our lives and all they teach us. Many of us experience our first arts performance with our moms who are eager to expose their children to creativity, music, and […]

This March, acclaimed chef and industry leader Mike Lata received Spoleto’s 2023 Mary Ramsay Civic Award, which recognizes extraordinary contributions of civic and charitable leadership within the Charleston community. As the co-owner and chef of FIG and The Ordinary, Lata has shaped Charleston’s culinary landscape, […]

In just under four months, Paul Wiancko will welcome guests to the first Bank of America Chamber Music program of the 2024 Festival. Until then, we want you to get to know Paul. A member of the internationally renowned Kronos Quartet, founding member of the […]

The Wells Fargo Jazz Series at Spoleto 2024 begins next Sunday with a spectacular Cistern Yard performance by two incomparable jazz musicians— Terri Lyne Carrington and Dianne Reeves (May 26). As the series curator, I believe jazz plays an integral role at Spoleto as an […]

Two things happened in Berlin on March 16, 2020:  our first child, Hugo, was born, and  the city went into full lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic. This may sound glib, but at first the lockdown felt like a bit of a reprieve for a […]

This year, the Wells Fargo Jazz Series promises an unforgettable journey through the heart of this vibrant musical genre. A captivating adventure through the vast landscape of jazz, this year’s lineup features the iconic sounds of the genre’s legends to the electrifying energy of contemporary […]

Old Crow Medicine Show. Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue. Amos Lee. Brandy Clark. Watchhouse. Aoife O’Donovan. Jason Isbell. These acclaimed nationally-touring artists make up the 2024 Front Row series at Spoleto Festival USA.   A titan of classical and jazz music, the Festival has expanded […]

The cast is set for Spoleto Festival USA’s world premiere play The Song of Rome, written by Denis O’Hare and Lisa Peterson. Co-produced by Spoleto Festival USA, the production will premiere on the opening weekend of this year’s Festival at the historic Dock Street Theatre.  […]

Ahead of her 2024 Spoleto debut, Sasha Velour will join the fourth season of the Emmy-winning unscripted series We’re Here. The gender-fluid drag queen is known for her performance artistry, fierce activism, and boundary-breaking scholarship. Sasha will present an immersive evening of drag, storytelling, and […]

On May 25 & 26, Benjamin Millepied’s L.A. Dance Project will perform a multidisciplinary adaptation of Shakespeare’s timeless tragedy Romeo and Juliet for Spoleto Festival USA. Following the Festival run, the group will travel to the Sydney Opera House for Millepied’s mainstage Australian debut. He […]

Old Crow Medicine Show has announced the return of founding member Christopher “Critter” Fuqua ahead of their Spoleto Festival USA return on May 24 & 25. Following a four-year hiatus, Fuqua is re-joining the two-time GRAMMY Award-winning band on their current tour that will stop […]

Pedrito Martinez returns to the Spoleto stage after seven years. His 2017 Wells Fargo Jazz Series performance in the College of Charleston Cistern Yard had audiences on their feet. His return this June will bring an exciting performance blending of jazz, rumba, and afro-beats for […]

On May 26, Grammy award-winning vocalist Dianne Reeves will join renowned drummer Terri Lyne Carrington for a Spoleto Festival USA performance featuring works by female jazz composers that span eras, geographical borders, and genres — from blues to bebop and beyond. But it’s not her […]

The Doris Duke Foundation announced that 2024 Wells Fargo Jazz series musician Miguel Zenón has received a 2024 Doris Duke Artist Award, the largest prize in the United States specifically dedicated to individual performing artists. The saxophonist, composer, and conceptualist is one of six honorees selected […]

Spoleto Festival USA today announced the cast and creative team for the world premiere performances of Ruinous Gods, a new full-length chamber opera by composer Layale Chaker and librettist Lisa Schlesinger at Spoleto Festival USA 2024. Announced earlier this year, the work explores the trauma […]

Cellist and composer Paul Wiancko will become the next Charles E. and Andrea L. Volpe Director of Chamber Music, debuting in the role in the 2024 season. Wiancko’s appointment marks the first time in the Festival’s history that the standing director is both a performer […]