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Spoleto Festival USA 2019 Coverage on South Carolina Public Radio

Spoleto Festival USA, 2019 logo
Spoleto Festival USA

Sonatas and Soundscapes Live from Spoleto, Spoleto Backstage, Chamber Music

The Spoleto Festival USA returns to Charleston beginning on May 24th and running to June 9th. South Carolina Public Radio's Sonata and Soundscapes will be there, broadcasting live each weekday. Host Bradley Fuller will bring you the latest happenings at Spoleto, along with guest interviews, previews of upcoming performances and highlights: Monday – Thursday 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Friday May 31 and June 7, 10 a.m. to noon on our News and Music Stations.

Credit Alfred Turner/SC Public Radio

Spoleto Backstageis a limited series podcast which takes you behind the curtain to meet the artists and people who make Spoleto Festival USA happen in Charleston. You're invited to places for which you can't buy a ticket and to see how opera, theater, dance, and more are made.

Join host Adam Parker, arts reporter for the Post and Courier, for six episodes between May 14 and June 11 to hear the stories behind Spoleto Festival USA 2019 and Piccolo Spoleto Festival 2019.

Excerpted interviews from the podcast will air throughout the day during our regular news programs throughout the run of the festival.

Director and violinist Geoff Nuttall (far left) directs and hosts the Bank of America Chamber Music Series at the Dock Street Theatre, featuring the St. Lawrence String Quartet.
Credit William Struhs, 2016
Director and violinist Geoff Nuttall (far left) directs and hosts the Bank of America Chamber Music Series at the Dock Street Theatre, featuring the St. Lawrence String Quartet.

Performances of this year's Chamber Music from Spoleto Festival USA, recorded live from Dock Street Theatre, begin May 31, airing weekdays inside Sonatas and Soundscapes, through June 14. The 2019 series, under the leadership of violinist Geoff Nuttall (celebrating his 10th season at the helm), features Copland's invigorating Appalachian Spring, Schubert's beloved octet, and the world premiere of composer-in-residence Paul Wiancko's oboe quintet for James Austin Smith and the St. Lawrence String Quartet. Returning Festival favorites include countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, flutist Tara Helen O'Connor, tenor Paul Groves, and a glorious trio of pianists—Inon Barnatan, Pedja Muzijevic, and Stephen Prutsman. These and others are joined by exciting newcomers: bassoonist Amy Harman brings her "supreme eloquence" (The Times); the multi-faceted Paul Holmes Morton performs on both his lute and theorbo; and David Byrd-Marrow offers his "stunning and assured" (The New York Times) tone on the French horn.

Chamber Music from this year's Spoleto Festival USA - Weekdays at 11 a.m. starting May 31, (Friday May 31, June 7 and June 14 at 10 a.m.) during Sonatas and Soundscapes on our News & Music Stations.

Chamber Music from Spoleto Festival USA - Listen to chamber music performances from previous Spoleto Festival USA's; music featured in the month of May includes Johann Strauss: Waltz, op. 437, "Emperor", Franz Joseph Haydn: String Quartet, op. 20 No. 1, Felix Mendelssohn: Octet in E-flat Major, op. 20, Maurice Ravel: Sonata for Violin and Cello and Samuel Barber: Dover Beach. 

This on-going series airs Thursday nights at 7 p.m. on our News & Music Stations.

Alfred Turner is a familiar voice to many listeners, having hosted past programs such as The Morning Concert, Standard Time and various specials. He was also South Carolina Public Radio’s webmaster for many years, and producer for Walter Edgar's Journal and South Carolina from A to Z.