The College of Charleston Friends of the School of the Arts and Friends of the Library will present a sneak preview of the Spoleto Festivual USA and the Piccolo Spoleto Festival. This hour-long event will be presented by music professors Edward Hart and Robert Taylor, theatre professor Todd McNerney, and director of the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art Mark Sloan. The lecture will highlight various, must-see arts events, as well as give a brief history of both Festivals. The presentation will take place on Monday, May 14, 2012 at 6 p.m. in the Recital Hall of the Simons Center for the Arts, 54 St. Philip Street. Admission is free.
A reception and book signing in the Hill Exhibition Gallery will follow the event and will include a peek at the preparatory stages of “Return to the Sea: Saltworks by Motoi Yamamato” in the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art. This traveling exhibit will premiere in Charleston as part of the Spoleto Festival USA on May 24. Yamamato will create a site-specific installation entirely out of salt during his residency at the Halsey Institute. For more information, visit http://halsey.cofc.edu. Copies of the stunning, 163-page exhibition catalogue will be available for autograph and purchase at the reception.
Both the School of the Arts and the College of Charleston Library have a long-standing relationship with the Spoleto USA and Piccolo Spoleto Festivals. For more than 20 years, School of the Arts faculty have taught specialized Spoleto classes at the College of Charleston, introducing the arts to students in conjunction with the Festivals’ performances. Hart and Taylor have performed, or had their original compositions performed, for Piccolo Spoleto on numerous occasions. McNerney has served as Theatre Coordinator for Piccolo Spoleto for over a decade and currently coordinates the Stelle di Domani Series. The Halsey Institute has coordinated exhibitions with both Festivals.
Additionally, School of the Arts faculty, students and alumni perform in Festival concerts and productions every year, including the Department of Music’s own Young Artists Series and the Department of Theatre’s Stelle di Domani Series, both of which involve award-winning students performing alongside well-established guests and alumni.
The College of Charleston Library serves as the repository for the Spoleto Festival USA archives. Performance programs, records and financial documents, as well as audio and videotapes of actual performances, of the Festival since its inception in 1977 are housed in Special Collections at the Marlene and Nathan Addlestone Library.
Special Collections also facilitates the ongoing Spoleto Festival USA Oral History Project, bringing valuable collections into the library and recording narratives and points of view that would otherwise be lost. The project, which includes interviews with artists long associated with Spoleto, new artists just participating in Spoleto, political figures, board leaders, volunteers and production staff members, will be stored in Special Collections and used as research material for generations to come.
The Friends of the School of the Arts promotes and supports the School of the Arts’ departments and programs, and also strengthens the relationships amongst the School, the College, the community, and other academic and cultural groups.
The Friends of the Library at the College of Charleston supports and advances the interests of the Marlene and Nathan Addlestone Library as the leading intellectual and cultural force in the community.
2012 College of Charleston Young Artists Series (Piccolo Spoleto)
The School of the Arts at the College of Charleston is excited to announce this year’s Piccolo Spoleto Festival Young Artists Series. Tickets are $11 and available at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival Box Office (1-866-811-4111) or online. All concerts take place at 12:00 noon in the College’s Recital Hall in the Simons Center for the Arts, 54 St. Philip Street, except for May 28 at the Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul at 126 Coming St.
The series will feature some of the College’s most accomplished music students and alumni such as guitarist Marco Sartor, a Grammy award nominee and first prize winner in numerous international competitions; Charleston piano sensation, 17-year-old Micah McLaurin, also an international competition winner who has already appeared with orchestras on three continents; the College of Charleston Concert Choir, one of the nation’s finest collegiate choral ensembles; baritone Nathan Matticks and soprano Ashley Fabian, prize winners of the National Association of the Teachers of Singing Competitions; and the Tan and See Piano Duo, finalists in the International Web Concert Hall Competition who have performed from the United States to South East Asia and Europe.
The performers hail from the United States, Uruguay, Singapore, Malaysia, Costa Rica, Chile, Dominican Republic, China and Slovakia.
Guest artists will include pianist Matthew Griswold, an Oberlin Conservatory graduate and winner of the Arthur Dann Piano Competition and the Southeastern Festival Concerto Competition, and pianist Luis Hernandez, a winner of the Carnegie Mellon University Concerto Competition.
SCHEDULE:
Saturday, May 26 - Tangos, Spanish and Latin Music for Piano and Strings
The trio of Yuhong Tu on violin, Lujza Durisova on cello and pianist Pedro Uceda perform Astor Piazzolla’s “Four Seasons of Buenos Aires,” the Tan and See Piano Duo perform Anton Marquez’s “Danzon,” Micah McLaurin plays the 1st Book of Isaac Albeniz’s “Iberia Suite” and pianist Emmanuel Houston plays a piece by Alberto Ginastera.
Monday, May 28 – College of Charleston Concert Choir
Conducted by Robert Taylor, the nationally recognized chorus performs a program of sacred music. This concert takes place at the Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul, 126 Coming St.
Tuesday, May 29 - Prize-winning Guitarist Marco Sartor, plus Music for Cello and Piano
Latin American and Italian Music with Marco Sartor, and cellists Lujza Durisova, Diego Villena, and Unusdian Errandonea perform works by Bruch, Khudoyan and Faure, with Pedro Uceda and Chee-Hang See at the piano.
Wednesday, May 30 - Gershwin, Paganini Variations and Other Showpieces for One and Two Pianos
Performers include the Tan and See Piano Duo and solo pianists Emmanuel Houston, Diego Suarez, and Emily Tran. Works by Liszt, Gershwin, Kapustin, Scriabin, Muczynski and Lutoslawski.
Thursday, May 31 – All Rachmaninoff Recital
Pedro Uceda plays Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto, plus Preludes, Etudes, and transcriptions with pianists Micah McLaurin, Chee-Hang See, Matthew Griswold and Emily Tran.
Friday, June 1 - The Art of the Song: Prize Winning Singers perform Songs from around the World
Nathan Matticks, Ashley Fabian, Jordon Boyd, Kori Miller and friends perform Art Songs by Strauss, Liszt, Debussy, Schubert and Schumann.
Saturday, June 2 - Rhapsody in Blue, Petrouchka Suite, and other Piano Blockbusters
Matthew Griswold performs “Rhapsody in Blue,” Luis Hernandez plays Stravinsky’s “Petrouchka Suite,” the Tan and See Piano Duo performs Liszt’s transcription of “Bellini’s Norma” on two pianos.
Monday, June 4 – Virtuoso Violin Recital – Students of Lee-Chin Siow perform masterworks and showpieces
Yuhong Tu, Meghan Henson and friends perform works by Brahms, Wieniawski and more.
Tuesday, June 5 - Opera and Oratorio Arias – Familiar Classics for the Stage and Concert Hall
Arias and Duets from operas performed by Johnathan White, Nathan Matticks, Ashley Fabian, Joe Ford and others.
Wednesday, June 6 - Singers go Baroque! – Vocal Music from the Time of Bach and Handel
Arias by Bach, Handel and Mozart performed by Nathan Matticks, Savannah Shelby, Jordan Boyd and more.
Thursday, June 7 – Favorite Piano Concertos by Mozart, Grieg and Tchaikovsky
Tan and See Piano Duo performs Mozart’s Concerto for Two Pianos, Emily Tran plays Grieg’s Concerto and Irwin Jiang performs Tchaikovsky’s popular Piano Concerto No. 1 with Luis Hernandez playing the orchestra.
Friday, June 8 - Mozart’s First Opera! – Bastien and Bastienne – a Pastoral Comedy
Sung in English and directed by David Templeton and Deanna McBroom, the opera stars Johnathan White as Bastien, Ashley Fabian as Bastienne, and Nathan Matticks as Cola.
Saturday, June 9 – Concertos and Solo works by Chopin and Prokofieff
Micah McLaurin plays Chopin’s Piano Sonata No. 2, Irwin Jiang plays Prokofieff’s Sonata No. 7, and Diego Suarez performs Prokofieff’s Concerto No. 2.