Spoleto Backstage

In this episode of Spoleto Backstage, Geoff Nuttall introduces Bradley Fuller to another of the most memorable Spoleto Festival USA chamber music programs from the past decade. This 2016 concert includes moving arias by Handel (with countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo performing), an expressive keyboard sonata by CPE Bach, and César Franck’s intensely passionate Piano Quintet in F minor. Following the performance, Bradley speaks with violist, educator, and intended composer-in-residence for the 2020 chamber music series Jessica Meyer. A recording of Meyer’s Seasons of Basho—a work slated for performance in the chamber series—comes after their conversation.

In this episode of Spoleto Backstage, Geoff Nuttall shares with co-host Bradley Fuller about one of his favorite Spoleto Festival USA Chamber Music Series concerts from the past ten years: a 2011 program featuring Osvaldo Golijov’s “Lullaby and Doina” from The Man Who Cried, Louis Moreau Gottschalk’s “The Union: Concert Paraphrase on National Airs,” and Franz Schubert’s String Quintet in C Major, D. 956, also known as his “Cello Quintet.” After performances of the solo and chamber selections, Spoleto Festival General Manager Nigel Redden joins Bradley to discuss the difficult decision to cancel the two-week arts event for 2020 and to highlight some of its next steps.

On this first episode of Spoleto Backstage for 2020, hosts Bradley Fuller and Geoff Nuttall discuss one of Geoff’s most memorable performances from the past decade of the Spoleto Festival USA Bank of America Chamber Music Series: a 2013 concert including Antonio Vivaldi’s Chamber Concerto in G minor, RV 107, Max Bruch’s String Octet in B-flat major, and André Messager’s “Tzigane” Theme and Variations from Les Deux Pigeons as arranged by longtime chamber series clarinetist Todd Palmer. Following a recording of that performance, Palmer shares how he came to discover the Messager work.

On this final episode of Spoleto Backstage for 2019, host Adam Parker speaks with Cora Bissett, writer and star, and Orla O'Loughlin, director, of the play "What Dreams Are Made Of." Based on Bissett's life story, the production follows a Scottish schoolgirl's rise to rock and roll stardorm and her rollercoaster journey along the way.

On this edition of Spoleto Backstage, host Adam Parker chats with Rob Taylor, director of Choral Activities at the College of Charleston, artistic director of the Taylor Festival Choir, and director of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra Chorus and Chamber Singers, about his series of choral concerts as part of Piccolo Spoleto Festival 2019.

On this episode of Spoleto Backstage, host Adam Parker speaks with mandolinist and singer-songwriter Chris Thile of the progressive bluegrass group Punch Brothers about their history of performing at Spoleto Festival USA. The two also discuss Thile's experiences as host of the public radio program Live From Here.

On this episode of Spoleto Backstage, host Adam Parker interviews singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sarah Jarosz about I'm With Her, a folk trio consisting of Jarosz, Sara Watkins, and Aoife O’Donovan.

On this episode of Spoleto Backstage, we learn about this year's Piccolo Spoleto Festival from Scott Watson, director of the Office of Cultural Affairs for the city of Charleston, and violinist Yuriy Bekker, concertmaster for the Charleston Symphony Orchestra.

The Spoleto Backstage podcast returns for 2019 to introduce you to the artists and people who make things happen at Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston.

In this season finale of Spoleto Backstage, Jeanette Guinn talks with the stars of The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk, Marc Antolin and Daisy Maywood.