SPOLETO FESTIVAL USA

May 1, 2012: Our speaker for Tuesday was Nigel Redden, General Director of Spoleto Festival USA. Redden has been with Spoleto USA for 36 years. He graduated from Yale with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History. He also is the current Director of Lincoln Center Festival.

Mr. Nigel Redden is responsible for all aspects of Spoleto festival including fundraising, financial administration, marketing, artists’ contracts and board development.

Mr. Redden stated that Spoleto Festival is unique in its own right because it is held on the beautiful Charleston Peninsula. No other festival is held in a city like Charleston. Spoleto starts this year on May25th and runs through June 10. Last year, the festival attracted tourist from 47 states and foreign countries. For the first time ever a newspaper from China will write reviews about Spoleto along with The Wall Street Journal, The NY Times, and other publications.

Mr. Redden stressed the importance of the Gaillard Theater. This will be last year Spoleto performances will be hosted in the old building before renovations this coming fall. The theater has had a profound importance since the start of Spoleto. The new building will be a state of the art theater.

Submitted by Katie McCravy, Keyway Committee