Spoleto '09
Officials: Quality the same
The Post and Courier
Like other festivals across the nation, Spoleto Festival USA is having to tighten its belt, but festival officials say the high quality of performances will remain the same.
Tickets are on sale for the 17-day comprehensive arts festival to be held here May 22 through June 7, says Paula Edwards, festival marketing and public relations director.
She also said the number of performances has dipped to 120 scheduled for 2009 from 142 held in the 2008 season.
Edwards said the $8.4 million budget for the 2008 festival has been trimmed to $6 million for 2009.
In a meeting held in November in New York, Spoleto General Director Nigel Redden announced that for the first time in 13 years the organization finished in the red with a deficit of $372,000.
However, Redden says the overall quality of the festival, celebrating its 33rd season, will remain high with a theatrical highlight consisting of a new production by Britain's highly esteemed Kneehigh Theatre titled "Don John," to be performed 19 times. The production was inspired by Mozart's "Don Giovanni" and has a score of specially commissioned music to accompany Kneehigh's distinctive brand of physical storytelling.
"I'm thrilled at how the 2009 program has come together," Redden says. "From the festival's new production of the rarely performed opera 'Louise' to the American premiere of Kneehigh Theatre's 'Don John' to a series of musical tributes in honor of Charles Wadsworth, who will be stepping down as artistic director of chamber music, this year's program is as robust as ever."
Redden also mentioned young American puppeteer Basil Twist returns to the festival with what is said to be "an elegant and dreamlike" theater piece, "Dogugaeshi," paying homage to the rarefied style of Japanese puppet theater. The shamisen virtuoso Yumiko Tanaka will accompany the hourlong production. Rounding out the theatrical roster will be the Dutch theater ensemble Kassys with its reportedly quirky and hilarious "Good Cop Bad Cop" routine, along with Welsh artist Hugh Hughes' winsome "Story of a Rabbit," which recently swept Scotland's Edinburgh Fringe awards.
Although earlier reports cast doubt as to whether the Wachovia Jazz Series would exist this year since Wachovia Bank recently has been bought by Wells Fargo, the jazz series will continue with five artists.
The series will be headlined by ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro and the Grammy Award-nominated Tierney Sutton Band with vocalist Sutton. Also performing will be blues legend Beverly "Guitar" Watkins and the heralded Italian jazz pianist and composer Ramberto Ciammarughi, who will perform six concerts of his original compositions. Also performing will be jazz vocalist Rene Marie.
The Carolina First Dance Series will include a familiar favorite when the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater makes its fifth visit to the festival. The company, which sparkled at the City Center in New York this fall as it celebrated its 50th anniversary, is considered by many dance critics to be the best modern dance company in the world.
Edwards says the festival was lucky to sign the Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, a 16-member ensemble formed in 2003 that has been praised by The New York Times for its "fierce physicality." The program will feature Norwegian choreographer Jo Stromgren's whimsical "Sunday, Again," along with other works.
Harking back to the early days of Spoleto when the Joyce Trisler Danscompany wowed audiences as dancers leaped beneath the live oaks at the College of Charleston's Cistern, this season, Spain's Noche Flamenca also will perform in this ethereal outdoor setting.
The streets of Bohemian Paris will serve as the setting and inspiration for a new production of Gustave Charpentier's opera, "Louise," rarely staged in the United States because of the large number of roles in it. The only full-length opera of the season, it will be directed by Sam Helfrich with the Ukrainian-American soprano Stefania Dovhan in the title role. Emmanuel Villaume, Spoleto Festival USA music director for opera and orchestra, will conduct.
This conventionally staged opera will provide a marked contrast to the punk cabaret operetta "Addicted to Bad Ideas: Peter Lorre's 20th Century," inspired by silver-screen legend Peter Lorre. Directed by Jay Schwab and featuring the punk band World/Inferno Friendship Society, the operetta's story also will incorporate an innovative video.
Most of all, Redden is enthusiastic about several special events that will make the 2009 festival one-of-a-kind.
The Bank of America Chamber Music series long has been considered one of the jewels in Spoleto's crown. Directed and hosted by the inimitable Charles Wads- sworth, the series of twice-a-day concerts garnered a loyal following. However, this season, Wadsworth will take his final bow and Spoleto will pay tribute to the person who was with the festival from its founding. Redden says Wadsworth will be feted at the annual opening weekend gala and honored by a chamber music performance with special guest pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet. Also, a high tea celebration will be held following the final chamber concert June 7.
Returning for the chamber concerts are cellist Alisa Weilerstein, the St. Lawrence String Quartet, clarinetist Todd Palmer, flutist Tara O'Connor, violists Hsin-Yun Huang and Daniel Philips and pianist Stephen Prutsman.
The Spoleto Festival Orchestra, led by Villaume, will take center stage for two concerts, one featuring well-known violist Sarah Chang.
Also returning will be a festival favorite, the Westminster Choir, performing two a cappella concerts conducted by Joe Miller, and Mozart's "Requiem" to be conducted by Joseph Flummerfelt, Spoleto's artistic director for choral activities.
The Music in Time and Intermezzi series will showcase guest artists and members of the Spoleto Festival Orchestra. Directed by John Kennedy, Music in Time will host American premieres such as Julia Wolfe's "Cruel Sister" and minimalist composer Michael Harrison's "Revelation" along with other artists. The Intermezzi series, with such talents as young pianist Andrew von Oeyen, will be held at St. Matthew's Lutheran Church.
CBS News' Emmy Award-winning Martha Teichner, a correspondent for "Sunday Morning," will moderate "Conversations With," featuring five interviews with festival artists.
The 2009 Spoleto Festival Finale picnic will be held at Middleton Place, where conductor Marc Williams will lead the Festival USA Orchestra, followed by fireworks.
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