Latest edition of internationally known arts festival opens

Emmanuel Villaume, Music Director for opera and orchestra for Spoleto Festival USA, rehearses for the opera "Amistad" Monday in Charleston. The festival will celebrate renewed ties with its namesake festival in Spoleto, Italy, and feature a new version of the opera "Amistad" during the 17-day season that starts Friday.

By: Matthew Robertson | Morning News
Published: May 23, 2008

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CHARLESTON _ A brass fanfare, music and speeches in Italian and English will usher in the new season of the Spoleto Festival USA.

The festival opens its 17-day run with noontime ceremonies Friday on the steps of city hall in Charleston.

The mayor of Spoleto, Italy, will address the crowd as Spoleto renews its connection with the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy.

Both festivals were founded by the late composer Gian Carlo Menotti, but severed their ties in the early 1990s when Menotti left the Charleston festival.

This year's Spoleto features more than 100 performances including a new production of the opera "Amistad." It tells the story of the 1839 revolt by enslaved Africans in a case which went to the U.S. Supreme Court.