Nigel Redden

Spoleto Festival USA General Director and CEO Mena Mark Hanna have announced the appointments of Brent Dickman (Chief Financial Officer), Dexter Foxworth (Chief Operating Officer), Liz Keller-Tripp (Lead Producer), and Katharine Laidlaw (Chief Marketing Officer), to the Festival’s executive team. The latest hires will join the Festival’s Chief Advancement Officer Julia Forster, who has overseen Spoleto’s tireless fundraising arm for more than 25 years.

In his new role, Hanna will advance Spoleto's commitment to produce and present innovative and world-class artistic programming across performing arts disciplines; provide a platform for young and established artists alike; feature the rich cultural diversity and creative community of Charleston, SC; and promote the Festival's hometown as an international arts destination.

Ushering a jubilant return to live performance, Spoleto Festival USA's 45th season was marked by change, big names, and bold ideas. “I am proud of my staff's commitment to making this season a reality,” says General Director Nigel Redden. “While it may have differed from our original hopes in terms of scale, I am immeasurably pleased with our outcome.'

Nigel Redden announced that in October 2021, he will step down as General Director of Spoleto Festival USA.

Spoleto Festival USA announces 17 days of Spoleto at Home: free digital and radio broadcast programming for audiences to enjoy in lieu of the 2020 season. a?oeWhen we initially announced the Festival's cancellation, we received an outpouring of overwhelmingly encouraging, albeit saddened, messages from our audience,a?? says General Director Nigel Redden.

For 43 years, Spoleto Festival USA has gathered artists of all kinds, turning Charleston, South Carolina, into a cultural havena?"a place where opera, dance, theater, and music converge for a 17-day celebration of artistic innovation and tradition.

Spoleto Festival USA announces Romantics Anonymous, a musical theater production set to run during the 2020 season. Produced by Plush Theatricals in association with Wise Children, the work, which premiered in 2017 at Shakespeare's Globe in Londona?"comes from the mind of Emma Rice, an acclaimed director whose many piecesa?"The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk (2018), The Red Shoes (2011), Don Jon (2009), and Tristan and Yseult (2006)a?"have been seen and adored by Festivalgoers. Rice adapted this musical from the French-Belgian romantic-comedy Les Emotifs anonymes; Christopher Dimond and Michael Kooman developed the lyrics and music.

Spoleto Festival USA announces the return of Scottish Ballet during the 2020 season. Last in Charleston in 2015, the company, which celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2019, performs one of its newest works on May 22, 23, and 24: The Crucible. Choreographer Helen Pickett's retelling of Arthur Miller's iconic drama can be seen at the Charleston Gaillard Center, accompanied by 18 members of the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra performing a haunting score by Peter Salem.

On the heels of a successful 2019 season, Spoleto Festival USA announces its commission of a new full-length opera by MacArthur Fellow and Grammy Award-winner Rhiannon Giddens, based on the life and autobiography of Omar Ibn Said.

Israeli filmmaker/director Amos Gitai has crafted a multimedia piece that hurls accusations at his countrymen - most fiercely in Hebrew rather than Arabic. It's a powerful indictment, even if it is a bit one-sided and inflammatory.

Festival General Director Nigel Redden announces the program for the 43rd annual Spoleto Festival USA, taking place May 24 through June 9, 2019. For 17 days and nights, a variety of artists converge in Charleston, South Carolina, filling the city's theaters, churches, and outdoor spaces with wide-ranging performances and concerts.

Misty Copeland will open the 61st annual Dance Magazine Awards. The evening will honor Ronald K. Brown, Lourdes Lopez(presented by Darren Walker), Crystal Pite, and Michael Trusnovec (presented by Patrick Corbin). A special Leadership Award will be presented to Nigel Redden. Since 1954 the Dance Magazine Awards have recognized outstanding men and women whose contributions have left a lasting impact on dance. This year's Awards will take place on Monday December 3, 2018 at The Ailey Citigroup Theater at 7:30pm.

Southern Living announced today the winners of its 2018 South's Best Awards, including Spoleto Festival USA. The 17-day performing arts celebration, held each year in Charleston, SC, was voted by Southern Living readers as the "South's Best Festival," a new category for 2018. The feature-found in Southern Living's April issue, on newsstands and online at southernliving.com-was compiled after editors "pored through more than 32,000 responses" to a digitally crowd-sourced survey surrounding favorite towns, beaches, barbecues, festivals, restaurants, breweries, and accommodations.

On the evening of Wednesday, July 26th 2017 at Lincoln Center's Koch Theater, the most exciting moment during the Bolshoi Ballet's performance of choreographer Jean-Christophe Maillot's ham-handed retelling of the plot of Shakespeare's rollicking comedy, The Taming of the Shrew, was a false fire alarm that sent many audience members scrambling for the exits. The dancers gamely carried on, as noted later in an excellent curtain speech by Lincoln Center Festival Director Nigel Redden, who congratulated them for dancing “impeccably” in spite of the scare.

Lincoln Center Festival Director Nigel Redden today announced casting for the unprecedented, international presentation of George Balanchine's Jewels . The Bolshoi Ballet, New York City Ballet, and Paris Opera Ballet will share the stage where the masterpiece first premiered on April 13, 1967, for five historic performances celebrating one of the greatest creative artists of the 20th century and the global recognition the work has received.

After nearly 20 years leading the internationally focused Lincoln Center Festival, Director Nigel Redden announced today that the 2017 Festival will be his last. He will step down in September to concentrate on the artistic expansion of the annual Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina, where he serves as general director, as well as other global artistic projects.

BWW Dance Top Stories You Might Have Missed 5/19 - THE STEP CREW and More!

Lincoln Center Festival Director Nigel Redden today announced casting for the unprecedented, international presentation of George Balanchine's Jewels . The Bolshoi Ballet, New York City Ballet, and Paris Opera Ballet will share the stage where the masterpiece first premiered on April 13, 1967, for five historic performances celebrating one of the greatest creative artists of the 20th century and the global recognition the work has received.

Festival General Director Nigel Redden has announced the program for the 41st annual Spoleto Festival USA, taking place May 26 through June 11, 2017, in Charleston, South Carolina. "On the heels of a hugely exciting 40th season, this year's Festival promises to build on that momentum, with even more dance and theater performances than in previous years," says Redden. "Charleston's rich history in the arts comes alive during each Festival, and we will explore that history and add to it again in 2017."

Nigel Redden, Lincoln Center Festival Director, today announced the lineup for the 2017 Festival, which runs from July 10 to 30.  This summer, in its 22nd season, the Festival continues to accentuate its mission of globalism by inviting to Lincoln Center artists and companies from many parts of the world who are creating audacious, original, and relevant work. Musicians, actors, writers, directors, filmmakers and dancers from a dozen countries and five continents will animate Lincoln Center's campus venues with bold creations-43 performances packed in a span of three weeks.