Piccolo Spoleto performances to fill Main Library Auditorium

CHARLESTON, SC - The summer can't really start until Spoleto and Picoolo Spoleto festivals kick off in Charleston! This year, six great Piccolo Spoleto shows are being performed at the Main Library.

Starting Tuesday, May 28, arts lovers can enjoy six days of hilarious and fun adaptations of classic children's tales and fun, summertime music. 

The first performance each day is set for 9:15 a.m., but school groups have priority access to that showing. Encore performances are scheduled for 10:45 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. Call 843-805-6893 for more program details.

The Piccolo Spoleto Festival annually presents a varied program that includes visual arts exhibitions, performances of classical music, jazz, dance, theater, and choral music, as well as cultural events and community celebrations, poetry readings, children’s activities, craft shows, and film screenings.

Piccolo Spoleto was launched in 1979 by the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs, which continues to work closely with an engaged group of volunteers from the Charleston arts community. The working group of arts professionals who serve as volunteer program coordinators for the Festival now numbers nearly forty, with each specializing in a particular discipline, genre, or period.

Check out this year's shows at Main. 

Who's Gonna Make Our Music? 
Tuesday, May 28 at 9:15 a.m., 10:45 a.m., and 12:15 p.m.
Join an improvisational sing-along with musician Billy Jonas, who plays guitar and re-percussion (drums made out of recycled materials). Featured themes include ecological awareness, community connection and personal responsibility, and audience participation is encouraged. 

"Little Red's Most Unusual Day"
Wednesday, May 29 at 9:15 a.m., 10:45 a.m., and 12:15 p.m.
Get Little Red Riding Hood’s perspective on the importance of obeying your mother! Join College of Charleston opera students, accompanied by Dr. Lorna Barker on piano, for this delightful children’s opera set to music by Offenbach and Rossini.

Amire Solomon and The Steel Empire
Thursday, May 30 at 9:15 a.m., 10:45 a.m., and 12:15 p.m.
Listen to songs that showcase the steel drum, a popular Caribbean instrument. Amire Solomon is a second-generation steel pan player, composer and teacher who is proud to share the origins of the instrument while playing crowd-pleasing songs. 

Porkchop Productions presents "Chicken Little"
Tuesday, June 4 at 9:15 a.m., 10:45 a.m., and 12:15 p.m.
Porkchop Productions returns to Piccolo Spoleto with this timeless tale that adds an assortment of musical genres to keep the story rocking along. A bored princess, her overprotective mother, a rapping narrator, an awestruck Prince, and endless “bad hair” days, highlight this one-of-a-kind adaptation that reinforces the idea that letting someone go, means letting someone grow.

Professor Jazz
Wednesday, June 5 at 9:15 a.m., 10:45 a.m., and 12:15 p.m.
Join Professor Jazz and his quartet as they entertain through song, demonstrating different styles of jazz through the years while also explaining the role of each musical instrument. Professor Jazz is Ken Foberg on trombone with Thomas Norris on guitar, Brett Belanger on bass, and Mike Brown on drums.

Storyteller J’miah Nabawi
Thursday, June 6 at 9:15 a.m., 10:45 a.m., and 12:15 p.m.
Storyteller J’miah Nabawi presents Merebema wo adwo-o-o! (I come to greet you!). Join in the unfolding of this musical folktale from Africa and the Caribbean. Mmoguo (recreational folktale-songs) is the musical force to keep the stories moving. And the whole family can participate in creative movement with shakers, gourds, and light instrumentation accompanied in the languages of Twi, Yorùbá, Ki-Swahili, French and Spanish.