Credit: Spoleto Festival USA (Facebook)
The program for the this year’s Spoleto Festival USA, taking place May 25th through June 10th, features more than 160 ticketed events spanning numerous categories.
Over the past two months, Holy City Sinner has provided a look into each of these disciplines, and today, we take a look at the last few categories. Here’s how the festival describes each.
Here’s how Spoleto Festival USA describes this year’s opera program:
Wells Fargo Festival Finale
Nashville-based The Lone Bellow headlines the Wells Fargo Festival Finale, held for the first time at Charleston's baseball stadium, Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park on Sunday, June 10 . Known for passionate and soulful vocals and emotional songwriting, the Americana, soul, and folk-rock band received great acclaim following the release of its third studio album, Walk Into a Storm.
The Finale gates open at 5:30pm , with the stadium's famous concessions available for purchase. (Reserved and general admission seating is available; lawn chairs, coolers, and outside food and beverage are prohibited.) Additional local bands, which will be announced this spring, take the stage beginning at 6:00pm ; The Lone Bellow performs at 8:30pm. A fireworks display draws the 2018 Festival to a close.
Behind the Garden Gate
For the sixth year, Spoleto Festival USA collaborates with the Charleston Horticultural Society and The Garden Conservancy to open some of Charleston's lushest private sanctuaries for self-guided tours. Each Saturday tour ( May 26 and June 2 ) features eight different private gardens, promising two full days of discovery and wonder in these artfully cultivated spaces. Garden descriptions and more information can be found at gardenconservancy.org/open-
Artist Talks
The 2018 Festival continues its Conversations With discussion series. Emmy Award-winning CBS News correspondent Martha Teichner interviews Festival artists for intriguing opportunities to hear directly from the artists about their work. This season, sessions feature Tree of Codes director Ong Keng Sen, Borders playwright Henry Naylor, cast members from The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart, Pia de' Tolomei conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya, and soprano Natalia Pavlova.
Music critic Larry Blumenfeld also conducts two artist talks. On Tuesday, May 29 , the members of Artifacts speak to the enduring legacy of Chicago's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and how the organization has influenced and empowered their work. And on Friday, June 1 , Quentin Baxter and fellow members of Ranky Tanky discuss Charleston's Gullah culture and how the group's music champions this tradition within a contemporary framework.
The full 2018 program and an event calendar can be found here.
Tickets can be purchased by phone at 843-579-3100 and online at spoletousa.org. Tickets can also be purchased in person through the Spoleto Festival USA Box Office at the Gaillard Center (95 Calhoun Street) beginning on Monday, May 1st.