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When the people who program Spoleto Festival USA sit down to figure out what to present each year, they don’t typically aim to fit the festival into a thematic mold. They solicit artists they admire and take what they can get. Still, it’s impossible to resist the temptation of looking for themes or trends once the program is announced. This time ar...

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Spoleto Festival USA began its life in Charleston 40 years ago as an import from Italy. The Italian festival—the Festival of Two Worlds, in Spoleto, Italy — was itself an American idea. Both festivals were founded by Gian Carlo Menotti, an Italian who came to America as a college student and became an extraordinarily successful composer, both of op...

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Grande cena a Spoleto, nei giorni del Festival dei 2 Mondi, in onore della superchef Lidia Bastianich. A volerla, Maria Flora e Zefferino Monini, terza generazione della dinastia imprenditoriale che ha scritto la storia del mercato dell'extra vergine.   L'occasione? Festeggiare con un nuovo gemellaggio Italia-Usa la collaborazione tra la che...

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In our discovery of new points of view from which to analyze the relationship between Italy and the US, today we want to talk about Sister Cities programs. There is an American institution, called "Sister Cities International", which takes care of these aspect of how the US partner up with other countries. So we are happy today to have as our gues...

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From comic book art to Shakespeare and Japanese opera, the new season of the Spoleto Festival USA will be the largest ever, offering 160 performances during the 17 days the festival lights up stages across this seaside city.   The internationally known arts festival, founded by the composer Gian Carlo Menotti, will open its 37th season Frida...

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By Susanne M. Schafer   Russian composer P.I. Tchaikovsky's sumptuous opera "Eugene Onegin," a concert by jazz master Dee Dee Bridgewater and performance by flamenco dance star Maria Pages are just a few of the many highlights promised in this spring's 2017 Spoleto Festival USA.   The internationally renowned Charleston, South Carolin...

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by Paul Hyde   "Veremonda, L'Amazzone Di Aragona" ("Veremonda, the Amazon of Aragona") takes place on Gibraltar. The Spanish Queen Veremonda, sung by the wonderful Vivica Genaux, is frustrated about the lack of progress in the war against the Moors. What's to account for the delay? King Alfonso is distracted by his scientific studies.  ...

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In 1977, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Gian Carlo Menotti, Christopher Keene, and others sought to create an American counterpart to their annual "Festival of Two Worlds" in Spoleto, Italy. With the help of Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr., the 17 day festival, designed to highlight both new and established artists, found its home stateside i...

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Historic Charleston is a large focus of next spring's 40th edition of the Spoleto Festival USA, from glimpses of the city in the iconic opera "Porgy and Bess" to the tragedy of the Emanuel AME Church shootings. The lineup for the internationally known arts festival that runs from May 27 through June 12 was unveiled on Sunday.   It featu...

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With a shower of confetti and the pealing of church bells, the Spoleto Festival USA on Friday opened its new season with a lineup including three operas, a production by Ireland's Gate Theatre and a concert by banjoists Béla Fleck and his wife, Abigail Washburn. The 38th edition of the festival concludes June 8 with a concert and fireworks at Midd...

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