Calling Spoleto Festival USA her “training ground,” Grammy-winning soprano Renée Fleming returned to the Festival in the 2026 season for the debut of her collaborative project The Fiddle and the Drum, presented on May 23, 2026, at the Charleston Gaillard Center alongside Grammy-winning banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck.
The performance featured Fleck’s ensemble My Bluegrass Heart and Spoleto alum Aoife O’Donovan, bringing together a wide-ranging group of collaborators for the project’s Festival premiere. The pair later unveiled the full album on May 29 and announced an upcoming tour that included appearances at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, as well as performances at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and New York City’s Carnegie Hall later in 2026.
As part of Spoleto Festival USA’s America 250 programming, The Fiddle and the Drum explored the nation’s musical heritage through an expansive blend of classical and folk traditions. Fleming’s luminous soprano intertwined with Fleck’s genre-defying banjo work, joined by My Bluegrass Heart and O’Donovan. The program centered Appalachian folk traditions, weaving together mountain songs, folk hymns, and traditional ballads into a textured and emotionally resonant musical landscape.
Charleston City Paper described the Festival performance as delivering “soaring sounds through love and loss and war,” capturing the emotional breadth and storytelling power of the collaboration.