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From Friday, May 24 to Sunday, June 9, 2024, the 48th Season of Spoleto Festival USA transformed Charleston into a vibrant, international hub of artistic expression. Over the course of 17 days, 13 venues hosted more than 100 performances, featuring 389 artists in 21 unique […]

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 […]

On Thursday, May 23, 2024, Spoleto Festival USA’s Opening Gala was held in the heart of the holy city. The event was a whirlwind of elegance, artistry, and community spirit.   Guests donned their best creative black-tie attire.    Emceed by the ever-charming Denis O’Hare, […]

In collaboration with Charleston Jazz Academy, Spoleto Festival USA presents two masterclasses with Wells Fargo Jazz series musicians. Chris Potter (Lowcountry: South Carolina Music in the Gullah Tradition) and Pedrito Martinez (Echoes of Africa) will share insight and skills to take participants’ jazz journey to […]

Spoleto Festival USA 2024’s highly anticipated world premiere, The Song of Rome, has drawn raves from critics and audiences alike.  The new play, co-written by Denis O’Hare and Lisa Peterson, is a companion piece to An Iliad that was a Festival hit in 2023.   The […]

Internationally acclaimed Lebanese American tenor Karim Sulayman delivers  a moving, nuanced performance as Crow in Spoleto’s world premiere opera Ruinous Gods. Sulayman, returns to this Festival season after debuting with his original production, Unholy Wars, in 2022.  In her review for the Charleston City Paper, […]

Spoleto Festival USA’s new opera Ruinous Gods opened to rave reviews! Opening on Friday, May 24 to an enthusiastic audience at the Sottile Theater, The Post and Courier called Ruinous Gods “a mesmerizing work perfect for the Spoleto Festival stage.”   “The opening scene was […]

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 […]

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 […]

Spoleto Festival USA is proud to announce the 2024 Mary Ramsay Civic Award winners are Kit and Joel Smith and Dr. Mary Thornley. Established in 2012, the Mary Ramsay Civic Award recognizes extraordinary contributions of civic and charitable leadership within the Charleston community. This year’s […]

Spoleto Festival USA General Director & CEO Mena Mark Hanna has unveiled the Festival’s 2024 season poster featuring an abstract composition of mixed media on paper by visual artist Sara Chaar. The artwork, Yellow Plastic, is from the artist’s Imagined Certainty series, which reflects her […]

Ahead of the world premiere of her first opera Ruinous Gods and residency with her band Sarafand at the 2024 Spoleto Festival USA, Layale Chaker is releasing new music. On May 17, 2024, Layale releases two albums in tandem – Vigil and Radio Afloat. The […]

A new cello concerto by Grammy-nominated vocalist, flutist, and composer Nathalie Joachim will premiere during the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra’s concert on Saturday, June 1. A co-commission with the New York Philharmonic, Orchestre Métropolitan, and Chautauqua Institution, Had to Be is Nathalie’s first foray in composing […]

2024 Spoleto performer Sasha Velour has made her premiere as one of four hosts of HBO’s fourth season of We’re Here, an EMMY award winning original series with a mission of spreading love and connection through the art of drag across small-town America.   Deadline is […]

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 […]

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 […]

This year, Spoleto Festival USA welcomes Watchhouse, the duo of Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz that has been captivating audiences with their blend of bluegrass, folk, and Americana for over a decade. For some they are better known as Mandolin Orange, their namesake until 2021. […]

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 […]

Each year, Spoleto Festival USA presents a rich tapestry of music, theater, opera, and dance in Charleston. Whether you’re a seasoned festivalgoer or a curious newcomer, our 2024 reading list will prime your artistic appetite and set the stage for an unforgettable Spoleto. These are […]

Released on his 86th birthday, Charles Lloyd’s new album The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow is garnering rave reviews.  One of the most significant recordings of his seven-decade career, The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow is Lloyd’s eleventh Blue Note album and delivers […]

After decades in the music industry, GRAMMY and CMA Award-winner Brandy Clark is having a breakout year, in addition to her GRAMMY win, she nabbed her first Tony-Award for the Broadway musical Shucked, which she co-wrote, and has embarked on a national tour, performing in […]

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.  […]

Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Aoife O’Donovan is gearing up for her return to Spoleto Festival USA in June, but critics are already raving about her new album All My Friends, proving that the anticipation is well-deserved.     Inspired by the letters and speeches of suffragist Carrie […]

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 […]

On March 5, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Spoleto alumni Gabriela Díaz and Ayane Kosaza will join the world-renowned chamber group Kronos Quartet in the article, “Two longtime members of Kronos Quartet plan a joint retirement.” Kronos will enter its sixth decade with two female […]

Since 1987, Women’s History Month has provided a space to celebrate the contributions of women and remember their remarkable stories of ingenuity, determination, and perseverance.  This spring, three of those stories—two true, one a fantastical dramatization of real testimonies—will take center stage at the 2024 […]

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 […]

2024 Spoleto Festival USA performer Charles Lloyd has released the first single off his upcoming album, The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow, due out March 15. Selected by The New York Times for its playlist of the most notable new tracks. Lloyd’s debut single, […]

2024 Festival composer, Natalie Joachim has released her second studio album, Ki moun ou ye. A Haitian American flutist, singer, and composer, Joachim’s original cello concerto will premiere at the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra concert performed by cellist Seth Parker Woods. Get your tickets for […]

The perennial tragic romance, Romeo and Juliet has been depicted in a myriad of artistic mediums in the 400+ years since William Shakespeare wrote the original play.  In honor of the upcoming 2024 Spoleto Festival USA production Romeo and Juliet Suite by L.A. Dance Project, […]

Honoring the history and heritage of the Lowcountry’s Gullah communities, Spoleto Festival USA 2024 will present Lowcountry: South Carolina Music in the Gullah Tradition in the College of Charleston Cistern Yard on Sunday, June 2. What is Gullah? The Gullah are an African American ethnic […]

At the 66th GRAMMY Awards, on Sunday, Feb. 4, two 2024 Spoleto performing acts won big. Jason Isbell: Best American Roots Song and Best Americana Album Now a six-time GRAMMY Award winner, Jason Isbell’s ninth studio album, Weathervanes earned the nod for Best Americana Album […]

In this conversation with Spoleto General Director & CEO Mena Mark Hanna and The Post & Courier’s Maura Hogan, go deep into the details of the 2024 Festival. Mena and Maura discuss the upcoming Festival and all you can’t miss. Explore the Season & Buy Tickets

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 […]

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 […]

Above: Old Crow Medicine Show, Spoleto Festival USA 2016. Photo by Julia Lynn. Spoleto Festival USA alumni are widely represented in the 2024 GRAMMY Award nominations.    Rhiannon Giddens, co-composer of the score for Spoleto Festival USA’s original opera Omar, is nominated for two awards. A […]