Spoleto Festival USA

Spoleto Festival USA is held annually over seventeen days in late spring, typically from late May into early June, in Charleston, South Carolina. Performances take place across multiple historic venues in the city, including the Dock Street Theatre and various churches.

Spoleto Festival USA was founded in 1977 by the Italian-American composer Gian Carlo Menotti as an American counterpart to his Festival dei Due Mondi (Festival of Two Worlds), which he had established in Spoleto, Italy, in 1958. Menotti envisioned both festivals as platforms for presenting both new works and classic repertoire across multiple artistic disciplines.

The festival is a multi-arts event featuring opera, theater, dance, chamber and orchestral music, and jazz. It is particularly known for presenting new or rarely staged operas and has premiered numerous original productions since its founding.

Spoleto Festival USA was modeled after Menotti's original Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy, and the two operated under shared artistic vision for years. Menotti eventually severed ties with the Charleston festival in the early 1990s following disputes over artistic direction and governance, and the two festivals have operated independently since then.