Spoleto Festival USA announces new Director of Chamber Music

October 31, 2023
Spoleto Festival USA announced that cellist and composer Paul Wiancko will become the next Charles E. and Andrea L. Volpe Director of Chamber Music and will debut in the role during the 2024 season (May 24 – June 9).

Wiancko’s appointment marks the first time in the Festival’s history that the standing director is both a performer and composer. Wiancko became a member of the internationally renowned Kronos Quartet in 2023. He is also a founding member of the viola and cello duo Ayane & Paul, as well the distinctive quarter, Owls. From 2009 to 2011, he was cellist of the Harlem Quartet, with whom he performed and taught extensively on a global scale. Wiancko has composed works performed by the St. Lawrence, Kronos, Aizuri, Parker, Calder, and Attacca Quartets, among numerous other prestigious ensembles.