2010 Piccolo Spoleto Festival Announces 32nd Season Highlights
For Immediate Release, May 2010The 32nd annual Piccolo Spoleto Festival, the official outreach arm of Spoleto Festival USA, will run May 28 to June 13, 2010. This year’s festival program offers a variety of arts and cultural programs including theatre, blues, jazz, chamber music, early music, dance, literary, visual arts and many free and family-friendly events.
New for the 2010 season, Piccolo Spoleto is launching a new box office system, with the official box office location at the Charleston Visitor Center, 375 Meeting St., and on May 22, a second location will open at the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs, 180 Meeting St. Tickets are available for purchase at these two locations, or by calling (843) 724-7295, or online at www.piccolospoleto.com.
“The 2010 Piccolo Spoleto Festival presents a wonderful opportunity for residents and visitors to transcend the frantic pace and experience the wonder and the magic of the arts,” says Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr. “Charleston is so fortunate to be the center of the international arts world for 17 days between the exciting programs offered through the internationally famous Spoleto Festival USA and its companion festival, Piccolo Spoleto.”
The 2010 official Piccolo Spoleto poster image, selected from a statewide competition based on its design qualities and representation of the festival, is Connections, by Charleston resident, Tate Nation. The Spotlight Concert Series poster is Front Door of City Hall by Charlestonian, Sandy Logan.
“Nation’s Connections truly represents the excitement, enthusiasm and celebration that Piccolo Spoleto brings to Charleston for 17 days. From every street corner to narrow walkways, to balconies, to the storefronts, to churches and to public spaces, the city truly comes alive during the festival, bursting with energy exalted from the artists and audiences. Connections also symbolizes how people connect during the festival, recognizing each other not by their differences, but by their common human qualities,” says Ellen Dressler Moryl, director of the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs and founding director of Piccolo Spoleto.
Spotlight Concert Series and Mepkin Abbey Concerts
A centerpiece of the 2010 Festival is the Spotlight Concert Series made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts as part of American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius. Presenting chamber musicians from the Southeast, the 2010 Spotlight Concert Series features innovative chamber music concerts, including musical masterpieces by American composers. Concerts include:
Maestro Donald Portnoy conducts a patriotic pops concert featuring the Piccolo Spoleto Festival Orchestra against the backdrop of the U.S. Yorktown and Charleston Harbor. On Sunday, May 30 at 6p.m. at the Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina. This unforgettable and stirring program features favorites such as U.S. Armed Forces Medley, Stars and Stripes Forever and more. The Piccolo Spoleto Festival Orchestra, Donald Portnoy conducts, celebrates the 150th anniversary of the birthday of Gustav Mahler with Music in the Time of Mahler; June 1 at 6 p.m. Soloists include Jill Terhaar Lewis, soprano and Jennifer Luiken, mezzo soprano.
Former longtime leading classical musicians in Charleston, cellist James Holland and his wife Megan, violin, present A Musical Homecoming at the City Gallery at Waterfront Park on June 2 with world-class violinist Yuriy Bekker and violist Jill King as they present music for string quartet by composers Richard Moryl and Edward Hart. World-renowned pianist Andrew Armstrong joins the quartet for a performance of the beautiful Piano Quintet by Amy Beach. Music from Around the Globe features the Charleston Woodwind Quintet performing works by Mozart, Françaix, Piazzolla, Jeff Scott and Soong Fu-Yuan. On June 5, Dez Cordas, a classical guitar and bass duo play an interesting and highly evocative mix of music styles ranging from classical to tango to jazz. USC music professor Craig Butterfield, bass, and Mansfield and Bloomsburg University guitar program director Matt Slotkin, guitar, are a virtuosic duo performing works by Piazzolla, Villa Lobos, de Falla and more. Flutist Regina Helcher Yost’s program entices the listener into a world of tonal palettes and colors in Picturesque Melodies from the 20th Century. Ghadi Shayban, piano and Timothy O’Malley, cello, join Ms. Yost in performing works by Copland, Bartók, Rachmaninoff and more. Clarinetist Nikolasa Tejero and pianist Tim Hinck explore musical vistas of the Americas in The Clarinet in the New World featuring works by Cuban, Puerto Rican, Mexican, Brazilian, Argentinean and American composers. Chamber Music Charleston presents Dvorak’s American String Quartet paired with their original adaptation of Margot Theis Raven’s Circle Unbroken set to the music of William Grant Still. Double bassists Ed Allman and Tom Bresnick open the program with a unique duo by Dave Anderson. Celebrate two important birthdays with N.C.-based Degas Quartet. Samuel Barber, born 100 years ago, is known for his hauntingly beautiful Adagio for Strings, which Degas plays to perfection. Robert Schumann, born 200 years ago, wrote three string quartets, the third of which rounds out this program.
Special events of the series include: Chopin, Champagne and Candlelight on June 10 at 8 p.m. at the picturesque City Gallery at Waterfront Park, with the world-class pianist Volodymyr Vynnitsky performing three of Chopin’s most beloved works. A champagne reception (French, of course!) will follow the concert. Beethoven: His Women and His Music, a unique collaboration between Actors’ Theatre of South Carolina and Chamber Music Charleston captures the maestro in a new light, revealing secrets from his journals. Charleston Chamber Opera presents Amore!, a program featuring some of the world’s most romantic operatic melodies in a semi-staged format, including La Bohème, L’elisir d’amore, La Traviata, I Pagliacci, Samson & Delilah and Carmen, on May 29 at 6 p.m. and May 30 at 4 p.m.
The very special Mepkin Abbey concerts include a concert in the abbey church with its perfect, clarifying acoustics, followed by a reception under the shady oaks. The Ensemble of St. Clare at Mepkin Abbey performs May 31 at 4 p.m., William Billings’ When Jesus Wept; George Frideric Handel’s Concerto Grosso Op. 6, #1; Fantasia on Greensleeves by Ralph Vaughn Williams; Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet; Bach Concerto for Oboe and Violin and Vaughn Williams’ The Lark Ascending, performed by Yuriy Bekker. Featured soloists are Yuriy Bekker, violin; Mark Gainer, oboe and Gretchen Schneider Roper, clarinet, Alex Agrest conducts. The Ensemble of St. Clare is comprised of some of the Lowcountry's leading Chamber musicians.
Cause and Effect: Music in Response to the Holocaust is June 10 at 4 p.m. The beautiful “Silent Devotion” from Ernest Bloch’s Sacred Service (composed between 1930 and 1933 in Switzerland), arranged for violin, cello, clarinet and piano, opens the program, followed by Olivier Messiaen’s ravishing Quartet for the End of Time, written and premiered in a German concentration camp in 1941. Performers are Nicole Benton, violin; Bryon Hogan, cello; Gretchen Schneider Roper, clarinet and Ghadi Shayban, piano. A free lecture about the program and rescued Torah scroll will be before the concert in the Abbey library at 2 p.m.
Spotlight on the Art of Choral Music includes concerts by renowned national choirs, including Antioch Chamber Ensemble performing Eric Whitacre’s The City and the Sea; Renaissance from Charlotte, N.C., performing Reincarnations, Op. 16 by Barber, Howard Hanson’s Song of Democracy; and the Taylor Festival Choir performing Maurice Duruflé’s beloved Requiem, and the Celtic Mass by Michael McGlynn. The St. Gregory Choir of Grace Episcopal Church will join forces with the Piccolo Spoleto Festival Orchestra to perform Johannes Brahms’ famous Ein Deutsches Requiem (German Requiem) on June 4 at 6 p.m. and June 5 at 2 p.m.
Free Events
Piccolo Spoleto’s mission, since its founding in 1979, is to provide access to the Spoleto Festival USA experience for everyone, regardless of their economic, social or physical circumstances. As a result, many of Piccolo Spoleto’s offerings are free or have minimal ticket prices. These free events are offered as a public service to provide access to the festival programs to everyone in the community.
A tradition of turning Charleston into a stage for 17 days, Piccolo Spoleto’s Sunset Serenade, a free outdoor pops concert overlooking the Charleston Harbor at the U.S. Custom House, opens Piccolo Spoleto, Friday, May 28 from 8 to 9:30 p.m. This year, the concert features the Piccolo Spoleto Festival Orchestra conducted by Donald Portnoy with soloist Nancy Lefter, mezzo soprano. The orchestra is comprised of graduating music majors from area universities, their college music professors along with some of Charleston’s finest professional, classical musicians. Program includes favorite works by American Composers, including Aaron Copland, John Williams, William Schumann and Duke Ellington.
Also offering many family-friendly activities, Piccolo Spoleto hosts a Children’s Festival in Marion Square on Saturday, May 29 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. “Carnival of the Animals” is the theme, engaging children of all ages with live entertainment: face painting, storytelling, arts and crafts, Carnival of the Animals performed by Chamber Music Charleston, a parade of Ashley Hall’s animal masks, The Giving Tree performed by Robert Ivey Ballet, the zany Seed and Feed Marching Abominable, and ending the day is the hilarious, high energy Electric Company!
Planned by the Piccolo Spoleto college interns, Piccolo Spoleto Beach Music Bash, a block party Friday, June 4 from 7 to 11 p.m. at the U.S. Custom House, featuring beach music bands that bring beach music favorites, including This Magic Moment and others to life, evoking the sounds and flavors of the 60’s and 70’s in the S.C. Lowcountry. Opening the party is the Explorer’s Club, a local band that will play originals as well as favorite beach music hits from the 50’s and 60’s. The night ends with Palmetto Soul on stage providing the best of beach music for shaggers.
Charleston residents and visitors will all find something of interest at the Piccolo Spoleto Finale: “Unity Day,” an exciting celebration of Charleston’s cultural diversity. The day starts at 9 a.m. at Harmon Park with free recreation activities sponsored by the City of Charleston Recreation Department, including tennis and swimming lessons until 1 p.m. At noon, Brittlebank Park comes alive with Irish Fiddling, the Holy Trinity Hellenic Dance Troupe, Suzuki Violins from Ashley Hall, and much more! The park is also host to more information about City of Charleston services, including health and wellness resources, sustainability and recycling, safety and crime prevention, homeownership and debt prevention seminars. There will also be an exciting cook-off between the Charleston Police Department and the Charleston Fire Department using ingredients from the Charleston Farmers Market. At 3:30 p.m. Bluegrass will be presented on stage, and at 5 p.m. Reggae sounds take over the park until 7 p.m. At 8 p.m. the entertainment moves to the Joe Riley Stadium with African drumming and MotownMadness with orchestral accompaniment! The evening is capped off with fireworks around 10 p.m.
Theatre
The popular Always…Patsy Cline returns to Piccolo Spoleto at the Charleston Music Hall from Midtown/Sheri Grace Productions as well as Rock ‘N’ Roll Heaven. Also in the Charleston Music Hall is Forbidden Broadway: Greatest Hits Vol. 1 and Buckets and Tap Shoes who returns to Piccolo Spoleto from a run on Broadway and a national tour.
The Footlight Players Theatre presents the musical revue Oh George! On Stage with George Gershwin and Devil Boys from Beyond, a wickedly campy send-up of 1950’s sci-fi movies. In addition, the Footlight Players Theatre will host the musical, Mahalia: A Gospel Musical produced by Art Forms & Theatre Concepts, as well as the uplifting comedy, My Name is Ruth. The theatre also hosts the musical magic show Anderson Illusions—“A World Beyond Reality.”
The story of Stede Bonnet, a gentleman pirate, and his encounters with heartache, fame and ultimate infamy will be told through The Gentleman Pirate, presented by PURE Theatre at the Powder Magazine. Also presented by PURE Theatre are Speech and Debate and Year of Magical Thinking at Lance Hall in Circular Congregational Church. Also hosted in Lance Hall are Revolutionary! Isadora Duncan of Word Dance Theater of Washington, D.C., Deuce Theatre’s Treeligion and Main Street Theatre of Rock Hill, S.C.’s Discretion.
The College of Charleston Department of Theatre presents the Stelle Di Domani series featuring David Lee Nelson: Status Update, the hilarious stand-up comedy of David Lee Nelson. Also featured is Moments of Joy, the funny, moving cabaret starring College of Charleston’s own Joy Vandervort-Cobb. Bunker 13, Lone Star, A Shaker’s Path: A Theatrical Exploration Based on the Life of Mother Ann Lee, Thom Pain (Based on Nothing), Reasons to be Pretty and Under the Lights are also presented. In addition, there will be two admission-free staged readings: Advanced Women and The Willow Grove.
The Village Playhouse Theatre presents Shipwrecked-An Entertainment, (title of show) and Souvienir-A Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins. The theatre is also hosting the cabaret A Little Bit in Love.
The Have Nots! celebrate their 10th year in Piccolo Spoleto and bring back by popular demand: The Have Nots! Comedy Improv Company; One Man Star Wars; Frankenmatt; Upright Citizens Brigade Touring Company; Man 1, Bank 0; The Cody Rivers Show; The Reckoning; The Complete History of Charleston for Morons; Mary Kay Has a Posse; and many others will be presented. Shows will be held at Theatre 99 (280 Meeting Street) and The American Theater (446 King Street).
Dance
The Charleston Ballet Theatre presents the perfect lunchtime diversion with Brown Bag and Ballet as well as Motown Mania, Decadent Divas, Little Mermaid and Cat in the Hat. Many local and regional dance companies will also perform at Footlight Players in the Dance at Noon series.
Visual Arts
The City Gallery at Waterfront Park offers viewers a rich union of two separate and distinct artistic disciplines as 10 local visual artists draw inspiration from 10 local poets’ words to create new works in Contemporary Charleston 2010: Influence. Curated by Erin Glaze and Max Miller, the exhibit is open May 20 to July 3, Monday through Sunday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Located at 180 Meeting Street, the New Perspectives Gallery will host Petal to the Metal. This exhibit features mixed media paintings by McLean Sheperd, celebrating flowers, using bouquets from the local Charleston Farmers as inspiration. Charleston Wide features large photographs by Robert Epps about interiors, volume, the wearing away of surfaces and the broad nature of iconic Charleston architecture. The exhibit is open May 22 to June 13, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The Tate Nation Invitational Exhibition features recent acrylic on canvas paintings by Piccolo Spoleto’s official 2010 poster artist and is open May 22 to June 13, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Art Institute of Charleston, located at 24 North Market St. Also at the Art Institute of Charleston during this time is The Sandy Logan Invitation Exhibition features the most recent photographs of the official poster artist for this year’s Spotlight concert series.
Another unique visual arts exhibition in the 2010 Piccolo Spoleto Festival is The Grid Turns the Corner, a traveling mid-career retrospective of drawings and prints by Dr. Terry K. Hunter. The exhibition focuses on the three states in which he received education/training and has been professionally active: Florida, Ohio and South Carolina. The exhibit is open May 24 to June 11; Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the U.S. Custom House, 200 East Bay St.
Literary
In its second year, the Southern Artists Celebratory Series (SACS) highlights one Southern artist each year. All profits from SACS benefit the Charleston Clemente Course, a free college-level course in the humanities, offered to expand the intellectual horizons of homeless and disadvantaged Charlestonians. For 2010, SACS presents A Celebration of Jonathan Green, including a preview of a new documentary; a question and answer session with the artist; the TTC Gospel Choir; jazz renderings by the MKM trio; and the interactive Gullah storytelling of Sharon Murray, all on May 30 at 4pm, Avery Research Center, 125 Bull St. Tickets are $21 and refreshments provided by Gullah Cuisine.
Other literary series include the Sundown Poetry Series, The Piccolo Spoleto Literary Festival and The Piccolo Spoleto Fiction Open.
Traditional Music of the Old South
A Red Clay Sunset: An Evening of Old Time (Fiddle) Music is presented by The S.C. Old-Time
Music Association and Ashley Hall, featuring old-time Appalachian and Cajun string band concert featuring The Roan Mountain Hilltoppers, La Bande Pain Perdu and The South Carolina Broadcasters on Sunday, June 6 at 6 p.m. on the beautiful Ashley Hall Lawn. Just the night before, Saturday, June 5 at 10 p.m., Pain Perdu from Eunice, Louisiana throws an old-timey Cajun dance party at Southend Brewery, complete with an authentic dance instruction.
Jazz
The Jazz Artists of Charleston present divers jazz sylings peformed by Charleston’s finest jazz musicians, featuring regional and national guests in the Upstairs at McCrady’s Series. Also returning to Gallery Chuma is John Street Jazz on May 30 and June 6.
New in the Jazz Series this year is the Charleston Jazz Initiative Legend’s Festival with events such as South Carolina’s Jazz Legend: Houston Person Live; Nothin’ Could be Finer: CJI’s Legends Festival Gala and Joseph “Fud” Livingston, a cabaret affair that celebrates the Charleston songwriter/arranger, Fud Livingston.
Tickets may be purchased by calling the Piccolo Spoleto ticket hotline at (843) 724-7295 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday; by fax at (843) 720-3967; or online at www.piccolospoleto.com. The official Piccolo Spoleto box office at the Charleston Visitor Center, 375 Meeting St., Charleston, SC 29403, is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., daily. Tickets can also be purchased in person at the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs, 180 Meeting St., Charleston, SC 29401, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday; beginning May 22, hours of operation are extended to 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday and Sunday. For a ticket brochure and information on Piccolo Spoleto, call the Office of Cultural Affairs at (843) 724-7305 or visit www.piccolospoleto.com.
Produced and directed by the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs since 1979, Piccolo Spoleto is the official outreach program of Spoleto Festival USA. Piccolo’s mission is to provide access to the Spoleto Festival USA experience for everyone, regardless of their economic, social or physical circumstances and to provide the opportunity for excellent local and regional artists, writers and performers to be showcased in the Piccolo Spoleto Festival venues.
