Soleto Festival USA Announces Its Complete Program 5/22-6/7

Spoleto Festival USA announced today its complete 2009 program that will see 120 performing arts performances take place in Charleston during the 17-day season, May 22 - June 7. Tickets for the 2009 Spoleto Festival USA are on sale now.

Highlights of the 33rd season include: a new production of Gustave Charpentier's opera Louise; a series of events honoring chamber music series artistic director Charles Wadsworth; and the return of two festival favorites - Britain's Kneehigh Theatre with a new production, Don John, as well as the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, now celebrating its 50th anniversary.

Notable festival debuts include Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Spain's Noche Flamenca and Japanese choreographer/performer Hiroaki Umeda. All three of these productions are courtesy of the Carolina First Dance series.

Noteworthy musical events include the Westminster Choir and the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra in a performance of W. A. Mozart's Requiem led by Festival Artistic Director for Choral Activities Joseph Flummerfelt; two concerts conducted by Music Director for Opera & Orchestra Emmanuel Villaume - Gustav Mahler's masterpiece Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth) and Brahms's Violin concerto in D Major with violinist Sarah Chang. The Westminster Choir will also perform Dietrich Buxtehude's baroque sacred masterpiece Membra Jesu Nostri.

The streets of bohemian Paris, immortalized in Puccini's La bohème, serve as both the setting and inspiration for a new production of Gustave Charpentier's opera Louise. Rarely staged in the U.S. due to its large number of roles, Louise will be directed by Sam Helfrich with Ukranian-American soprano Stefania Dovhan in the title role. The set is designed by Andrew Holland with costumes by Kaye Voyce and lighting by Aaron Black. Emmanuel Villaume, Spoleto Festival USA Music Director for Opera & Orchestra, will conduct. Louise is sponsored by BMW Manufacturing Co.

The colorful and ultimately tragic life of actor and silver screen legend Peter Lorre serves as the springboard for the punk cabaret operetta Addicted to Bad Ideas: Peter Lorre's 20th Century. A collaboration between director Jay Scheib and New York punk band World/Inferno Friendship Society, Bad Ideas features WIFS's incomparable front man Jack Terricloth backed by a swinging nine-piece band and incorporates innovative video designed by Scheib and Keith Skretch.

Contemporary music also plays an important supporting role in Don John, the newest production from Britain's Kneehigh Theatre. The Cornwall-based ensemble's first American performances of Tristan & Yseult at the 2006 Spoleto Festival USA, proved the sleeper hit that year. The company returns to Charleston for the U.S. premiere of Don John, a highly original new production inspired by Mozart's Don Giovanni. With a score of specially commissioned music by Stu Barker that adds a sense of playfulness to the story line, Don John embodies Kneehigh's distinctive brand of physical and imaginative storytelling. Sponsored by First Citizens, Don John is produced in association with the Royal Shakespeare Company and Bristol Old Vic and will be performed 19 times over the course of the festival.

The award-winning American puppeteer Basil Twist garnered rave reviews in 2005 with a delightful Festival production of Respighi's La bella dormente nel bosco. Twist returns to Spoleto Festival USA with the elegant and dreamlike Dogugaeshi, which both revives and pays homage to the rarefied Japanese stage technique of the same name. Shamisen virtuoso Yumiko Tanaka will accompany the hour-long production which will be presented in an intimate black-box theater built specially for the production in the Gaillard Exhibition Hall. Dogugaeshi is sponsored by Charleston Place.

Rounding out the theatrical selections of the 2009 festival is the adventurous Dutch theater ensemble Kassys with Good Cop Bad Cop and Welsh artist Hugh Hughes performing the winsome Story of a Rabbit, which won the Fringe First Award following a sold-out Edinburgh Fringe Festival season in 2007.

The Carolina First Dance series features a Spoleto festival audience favorite - Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater - along with a number of festival debuts. Founded in 2003, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet is known for its adventurous repertoire by international choreographers rarely seen in this country. Described as "extraordinarily gifted" by The New York Post, the 16-member ensemble has been widely praised for its technical aptitude and fierce physicality, both of which will be displayed in a program featuring Norwegian choreographer Jø Stromgren's whimsical Sunday, Again and Crystal Pite's Ten Duets on the Theme of Rescue, along with an excerpt from Ohad Naharin's Decadance. Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet is sponsored by Ginn Resorts.

Also making festival debuts are two international dance attractions: the experimental Japanese choreographer/performer Hiroaki Umeda, whose work employs digital technology and crackling soundscapes in surprising and sophisticated ways; and Spain's Noche Flamenca with lead dancer Soledad Barrio. Repeatedly singled out by Alastair Macaulay, the chief dance critic of The New York Times, as one of the most important dancers working today, Barrio will lead an ensemble of musicians and dancers in the atmospheric outdoor setting of the Cistern at the College of Charleston. Noche Flamenca is sponsored by Ginn Resorts and Hiroaki Umeda is sponsored by Sherman Capital Markets.

In the midst of a nationwide 50th anniversary tour, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, returns to the Gaillard over opening weekend for their fifth Spoleto Festival USA appearance. The company will offer a celebratory program which closes with Alvin Ailey's Revelations, set to African-American spirituals. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is sponsored by BlueCross and BlueShield of South Carolina.

Music plays an integral role at Spoleto Festival USA, and the Bank of America Chamber Music series has long been considered one of the jewels in the festival's crown. Directed and hosted by the inimitable Charles Wadsworth, this series of concerts performed twice each day over the course of the festival has garnered a fiercely loyal following. In 2009, Mr. Wadsworth takes his final bow as director of the series, and the Festival and audiences will pay tribute to this beloved artist with several celebratory events: Wadsworth will be the guest of honor at the annual Opening Weekend Gala held on Saturday, May 23 after the opening night performance by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; on Sunday, May 31, artists from the chamber music series along with such special guests such as the pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet will present a concert in Wadsworth's honor; and on Sunday, June 7, a traditional high tea will be held immediately following the 1pm chamber music concert. For complete details and ticket prices for all the above, visit www.spoletousa.org

In addition to the above special events, the Bank of America Chamber Music series will once again feature different groupings of musicians, many of whom have performed at the Spoleto Festival with Mr. Wadsworth in past years, including 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, to name a few. In keeping with tradition, the concerts will be performed at 11am and 1pm every day over the course of the festival. Each program is repeated three times and will be announced from the stage.

In addition to the chamber music series, the 2009 music program encompasses a wide variety of musical traditions - from the sacred to the profane. A concert by 68-year-old guitar slinger Beverly "Guitar" Watkins involves possibly a bit of both. A legend in the blues world, Watkins has been described as a "pyrotechnic guitar maven" who has shared the stage with such blues greats as James Brown, B.B. King and Ray Charles. With her flamboyant style, haunting poeticism and sheer physical stamina, Watkins will perform her brand of "railroad-stompin'" blues in concert at the Cistern.

Embracing the traditions of bluegrass, folk and string band, the Punch Brothers were recently described as "totally mind-blowing" by the San Francisco Chronicle. Led by mandolin player and Nickel Creek co-founder Chris Thile, the ensemble is rapidly becoming an important force on the American music scene having been recently nominated as one of the Best Albums of 2008 in National Public Radio's All Things Considered Listener Poll.

Composed of young musicians from the country's leading music programs and conservatories, the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra, led by Emmanuel Villaume, the Christel DeHaan Music Director for Opera & Orchestra, will take center stage in two concerts, the first to perform Gustav Mahler's extraordinary "song symphony" Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth). This concert is sponsored by South Carolina Bank and Trust. On June 2 violinist Sarah Chang will join forces with the Festival's orchestra for Brahms's Violin Concerto in D major.

Spoleto Festival USA's longtime chorus-in-residence, the Westminster Choir can be heard numerous times during the festival: Joe Miller will conduct two a cappella concerts at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke and St. Paul; the choir will also perform Mozart's Requiem under the direction of conductor Joseph Flummerfelt, Spoleto's Artistic Director for Choral Activities. Also on the program to be performed at the Gaillard Auditorium is Poulenc's Gloria.

Longtime chorus master of the Westminster Choir, Andrew Megill will lead the choir in a program of sacred work, including baroque composer Dietrich Buxtehude's Membra Jesu Nostri along with his protégé J.S. Bach's Easter cantata Christ lag in Todesbanden.

The 2009 Wachovia Jazz Series crosses continents and traditions, from American jazz vocalists Tierney Sutton and René Marie to the solo piano improvisations of Italy's Ramberto Ciammarughi.

The jazz series will also feature the Hawaiian-born Jake Shimabukuro, recently dubbed "the best ukulele player on the planet," by The New York Times. With lightning-fast fingers and virtuosic technique, Shimabukuro is credited with expanding the possibilities of this often overlooked instrument.

Florin Niculescu is considered one of the finest violinists on the international jazz scene today whose enchanting gypsy sound is built upon on a classical jazz foundation. Niculescu's quartet will make its U.S. debut at the 2009 festival.

Also performing at the Cistern is the Grammy Award Nominated Tierney Sutton Band. Comprised of vocalist Tierney Sutton and instrumentalists Christian Jacob, Trey Henry, Kevin Axt, and Ray Brinker, this stellar group of musicians has garnered critical praise worldwide for their fresh interpretations of familiar songs.

Italian jazz pianist and composer Ramberto Ciammarughi performed at last year's festival as part of the Stefano Cantini Quartet. Ciammarughi now returns solo to perform six concerts of original compositions showcasing the clarity and vibrancy of his playing.

Jazz vocalist René Marie enjoyed an immensely successful festival debut in 2007. She returns to headline the Wachovia Jazz series at the Gaillard Auditorium with selections from her new album, Voice of My Beautiful Country, which showcases her unique take on traditional patriotic songs and other tunes relating to the American experience.

Two popular music series - Music in Time and Intermezzi - showcase both guest artists as well as members of the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra and singers from the Festival's opera productions.

Directed by John Kennedy, Music in Time has a reputation for unearthing groundbreaking composers and the 2009 series features numerous American premieres including Julia Wolfe's Cruel Sister based on an ancient British folk tale, minimalist composer Michael Harrison's Revelation and an eclectic evening of music from Philip Bimstein, whose work is often peppered with recordings of human and animal voices as well as everyday and environmental sounds. Shamisen virtuoso Yumiko Tanaka, the featured performer in Dogugaeshi, will offer a solo concert of work by Michiko Mamiya. All four concerts will be performed in the Simons Center Recital Hall at the College of Charleston.

The Intermezzi series, held in the graceful setting of St. Matthew's Lutheran Church includes a solo recital of works of Bach, Liszt and Stravinsky by American pianist Andrew von Oeyen; and a chamber symphony program of Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4 (The Italian) and the overture to Rossini's The Barber of Seville. The final program of the Intermezzi series will spotlight singers from the cast of Louise in a vocal recital of art song and arias.

Spoleto Festival USA 2009 "Conversations With" Series
Spoleto's popular Conversations With series features a series of public conversations with festival artists moderated by the Emmy Award-winning CBS News correspondent Martha Teichner. Guests for the 2009 series include: Story of a Rabbit's Hugh Hughes; guitarist Beverly Watkins; Jack Terricloth, front man for World/Inferno Friendship Society, and Jay Scheib, director of Addicted to Bad Ideas: Peter Lorre's 20th Century; and festival icon Charles Wadsworth.

2009 Opening Weekend Gala
The 2009 Opening Weekend Gala will be held in honor of Charles Wadsworth on Saturday, May 23 at 9:00pm. Following the opening performance of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the gala will feature pre-dinner cocktails, a seated dinner and dancing. $400 per person ($215 tax deductible), which includes a ticket to Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and gala dinner.

High Tea Farewell
The festival will bid adieu to Charles Wadsworth with an elegant high tea following the 1:00pm concert on Sunday, June 7. The tea will be held in the garden of the President's House at the College of Charleston, a short walk from Memminger Auditorium. $100 per person, which includes a ticket to the 1:00pm performance at Memminger Auditorium and a traditional high tea at the President's House at the College of Charleston, 6 Glebe Street. This event is made possible in part by the College of Charleston.

Tickets range from $10 to $130. To purchase tickets, visit www. spoletousa.org or call 843.579.3100. Special festival ticket packages are available as well as group sales savings opportunities. Tickets may be purchased in person at the Spoleto Festival USA box office in the Gaillard Auditorium, 77 Calhoun Street, beginning April 20.

 

 

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