Spoleto Festival USA announced programming for its 47th season on January 27, 2023, drawing cross-country chatter about the lineup. Take a look at what the press had to say:
In Charleston
Charleston’s The Post and Courier focused on Spoleto’s multidisciplinary approach to programming, and asked General Director and CEO Mena Mark Hanna about his curation. Kalyn Oyer wrote: “Hanna told The Post and Courier there’s been one question at the forefront of this year’s programming: ‘How do we reinvent the stories we’ve already told?’ These reinventions are multifaceted with a focus on the multidisciplinary. There are several works that cross the boundaries of genre or lend a new perspective to a classic tale.”
Quentin Baxter
In its summation of the season, Charleston City Paper wrote about the “artistic homecomings” in store this year, from “Charleston’s Quentin Baxter, who will take center stage with his quintet, as well for acclaimed conductor Jonathon Heyward and pianist Micah McLaurin,” wrote arts editor Chloe Hogan.
Elsewhere
ArtsATL and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, centered its focus on the season’s plentiful connections to Atlanta. “The festival will once again be an opportunity for Atlantans to enjoy an intense immersion in the performing arts over the course of a weekend or a few days, all within driving distance,” wrote James Paulk. He continued: “The greatness of Spoleto is that it offers a range of chamber music, opera, orchestra concerts, theater, dance, jazz and even physical theater, with programming all day long. So you can pack in as many shows as you think you can handle. And pretty much everything is cutting-edge, even experimental. This is not the place to find a routine performance of a warhorse opera or play. Instead, it gives the audience a chance to stretch out a bit, often with ensembles visiting from Europe and elsewhere overseas.”
Soprano Nicole Heaston sings the lead role in Vanessa
In the industry
Industry-focused outlets, like Musical America, Opera Wire, and The Dance Edit, had Spoleto in its headlines. Opera Wire, for instance, announced opera programming and artists, from soprano Nicole Heaston’s role in Vanessa to Jamez McCorkle’s world premiere stage adaptation and Anthony Roth Costanzo’s cabaret-meets-opera-meets-theater hybrid, Only an Octave Apart.