Spoleto USA: A Festival Discovers America 1977

1977 / 58 min. / color
Directed by Michael Blackwood

When Gian Carlo Menotti created the Spoleto festival in 1958, he imagined it existing in two worlds, Europe and America. After years of debate as to where the beloved festival should take place in the United States, the city of Charleston was chosen. Charleston, much like Spoleto is a place rooted in history. It was Charleston’s grand cultural allure that secured it as the rightful spot for Spoleto USA. Home to many churches, houses and theaters from the late 18th Century, Charleston has always celebrated its untouched past. It shares Spoleto’s love for what came before. Menotti thought of the festival as a celebration of music that would link the old world with the new. By opening the floor to both emerging talent and longtime masters, Menotti merges the past and future in cities that are doing very much the same.