North America
Spoleto Festival USA
When: 22 May – 7 June
Where: Charleston, SC
Tel: 843-579-3100
Web: www.spoletousa.org
This music, theatre and dance festival marks the 350th anniversary of the city of Charleston with Omar, an opera about an enslaved African sold in Charleston in 1807. Returning are two festival mainstays: The Westminster Choir, which performs Gesualdo’s Responsoria, backed by photographer Tom Keifer’s striking images from the US-Mexico border, and the St Lawrence String Quartet, now in its 25th year in residence. The line-up also includes countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, pianist Inon Barnatan and Charleston native Jonathon Heyward, who conducts the Festival Orchestra in Holst’s The Planets.
DON’T MISS:
Omar 22, 25, 28, 31 May, 3, 7 June
Rhiannon Giddens, an Oberlin-trained folk singer and multi-instrumentalist, returns to her classical roots with Omar, an opera on the life of Omar Ibn Said. Co-composed with Michael Abels, it features Jamez McCorkle in the title role.
Music Academy of the West
When: 15 June – 8 August
