Spoleto Festival USA has released Live from Spoleto 2025: Chamber Music, Vol. 1, a new album capturing the artistry and immediacy of the Festival’s Bank of America Chamber Music series. Recorded live during the 2025 Festival, the album is now available to stream.
“Spoleto is about adventure and excitement—about how different art forms can collide with each other to create something new,” said General Director and CEO Dr. Mena Mark Hanna. “Chamber music is one of the Festival’s core artistic pillars, and these recordings reflect the same spirit of curiosity, daring, and immediacy that defines Spoleto Festival USA as a whole.”
Recorded inside Charleston’s historic Dock Street Theatre during the Festival’s 17-day run, Live from Spoleto 2025: Chamber Music, Vol. 1 invites listeners into the room, preserving the intimacy and spontaneity that define live performance. Musicians respond to one another in real time, shaping each work through close listening, trust, and shared energy.
The album moves fluidly across styles and traditions, reflecting the Festival’s commitment to dynamic programming. Highlights include Dinuk Wijeratne’s Love Triangle, which blends jazz influences with South Asian musical elements; Borodin’s Nocturne from String Quartet No. 2, rendered with lyrical warmth; and Iturralde’s Pequeña Czarda, brought to life with an improvisatory edge by saxophonist Steven Banks.
At the center of the album is Terry Riley’s G Song, a meditative work that unfolds through subtle shifts in repetition and texture. Performed by Alexi Kenney, Geneva Lewis, Ayane Kozasa, and Paul Wiancko, the piece exemplifies the Festival’s emphasis on deep listening and musical connection.
Curated by Paul Wiancko, Spoleto Festival USA’s Charles E. and Andrea L. Volpe Director of Chamber Music, the album reflects a guiding artistic vision rooted in immediacy and discovery. “I look for the energy of improvisation in everything,” said Wiancko. “Music played with such deep understanding that it feels newly invented each time.”
A second volume, Live from Spoleto 2025: Chamber Music, Vol. 2: Vivaldi Meets Vahdat, is set for release on May 8. The second album continues this spirit of exploration, pairing music by the 2025 Suzan D. Boyd Composer-in-Residence Mahsa Vahdat with selections from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. The result is a continuous musical arc that bridges traditions and invites new ways of listening across cultures and time.
Together, the two albums offer a vivid portrait of Spoleto Festival USA’s Bank of America Chamber Music series—capturing not only exceptional performances, but the essence of the Festival itself: music made in the moment, alive and shared.