Spoleto Festival USA Director of Choral Activities announces final season
November 19, 2024
Joe Miller to take a final bow at 49th Spoleto Festival USA
After a remarkable 19-year tenure, Joe Miller, the esteemed Director of Choral Activities at Spoleto Festival USA, will conclude his role in June 2025. Miller has accepted a new position to become Music Director at Vocal Arts Ensemble Cincinnati, Greater Cincinnati’s premier professional vocal ensemble. The 49th Spoleto Festival USA will celebrate Miller’s legacy with a series of special programs, details of which will be announced with the full season in early 2025.
“Joe Miller’s impact has been immeasurable,” says Mena Mark Hanna, General Director and CEO of Spoleto Festival USA. “Through remarkable talent, creativity, and determination, he has created world-class choral music at Spoleto. He has been a vital force for choral music in America and an extraordinary friend to our Festival. We are deeply grateful for his dedication and look forward to celebrating his legacy at the 2025 Festival. He will always be part of the Spoleto family.”
During his tenure, Miller significantly advanced the Festival’s choral program, first with Westminster Choir College and then by initiating the highly competitive Choral Fellowship program, attracting early-career professional choristers through a national audition tour to sing each year as the Spoleto Festival USA Chorus. Miller has been instrumental in preparing numerous world premiere works and opera productions, including Pulitzer Prize-winning Omar (2022) and Ruinous Gods (2024). He has consistently presented beloved annual choral programs, which take place in Charleston’s historic churches and concert halls. He conducted the first fully staged production of John Adams’s El Niño at Festival Hall, the Festival’s first performance of a Bach Passion, and the first fully staged production of Joby Talbot’s Path of Miracles at the Charleston Gaillard Center. Through these and many more initiatives, Miller has trained countless choristers, many of whom have gone on to successful careers on international stages.
Miller succeeded his mentor, Dr. Joseph Flummerfelt, the Festival’s founding choral conductor, in 2011 and has continued to elevate the choral program to new heights. Choral music will remain a cornerstone of the Festival, building on the legacies and tenures of Miller and Flummerfelt.
For more information about Spoleto Festival USA, visit spoletousa.org.
About Spoleto Festival USA
Spoleto Festival USA was founded in 1977 by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Gian Carlo Menotti, who sought to create an American counterpart to the annual Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy, which he had founded in 1958. Now in its 48th year, Spoleto Festival USA is internationally recognized as America’s premier performing arts festival. For 17 days and nights each spring, Spoleto Festival USA fills Charleston’s historic theaters, churches, and outdoor spaces with performances in opera; theater; dance; and chamber, symphonic, choral, and jazz music. Spoleto’s mission is to present programs of the highest artistic caliber while maintaining a dedication to young artists, a commitment to all forms of the performing arts, a passion for contemporary innovation, and an enthusiasm for providing unique performance opportunities for established artists. Beyond its role as a launching pad for young talent, Spoleto also serves as a catalyst for cultural change and has aided in Charleston’s flourishing as a top arts and culture destination. With General Director & CEO Mena Mark Hanna at its helm, the 2025 season takes place from May 23 to June 8 in various locations throughout Charleston. Spoleto Festival USA is a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization.
