City officials of the Comune di Spoleto honored the artistic and cultural contributions of the CCM Spoleto Festival, now in its inaugural year, at a gala dinner on Saturday, August 7. The Pro Loco di Spoleto, a volunteer organization that promotes the city and local activities, hosted the reception.
Mayor Daniele Benedetti and Pro Loco President Luciano Belli presented festival students and organizers with a trophy for best new arts and culture initiative of 2010—thanking participants for enriching the city of Spoleto through their art, talent and mere presence. “Seeing you walk through the streets with your instruments, and hearing the music pouring out of Teatro Nuovo each day reminds us of the glory days of the Festival dei Due Mondi, when Gian Carlo Menotti and Thomas Schippers brought the best and brightest to over each summer,” Mayor Benedetti added.
The cities of Spoleto and Cincinnati have enjoyed a cultural link dating back to the 1970s when Thomas Schippers, one of the most celebrated figures in the history of Spoleto’s famed Festival dei Due Mondi, was music director at the Cincinnati Symphony. Benedetti expressed his hope that the partnership would continue long into the future.
Led by artistic director David Adams, head of CCM’s performance studies division, and general manager Sara Danner Dukic, CCM Spoleto 2010 featured nearly 150 young musicians from throughout the United States and 30 faculty members representing many of the country’s top conservatories.
Participants collaborated to produce 23 performances during the five-week festival—including two fully staged performances of Benjamin Britten’s opera The Rape of Lucretia. Events were heavily promoted throughout the Umbrian region as part of Sogno d’Estate, a series of cultural events held July-September.
For more information about CCM Spoleto, visit the festival website or official blog.
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