Latest news with #CharlesWadsworth
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Spoleto Festival USA's founding director of chamber music dies at 96
CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – The founding artistic director of chamber music for Spoleto Festival USA has died at 96, according to festival organizers. Charles Wadsworth, born in rural Georgia in 1929, was a preeminent leader in the field of chamber music and helped expand the genre's populist appeal both at Spoleto and around the world. 'Presenting innovative programming and a stable of consummate soloists, he charmed audiences, encouraged generations of virtuoso musicians, and developed a concert format that propelled chamber music concerts and festivals worldwide,' the festival said in a news release Friday afternoon. Wadsworth served Spoleto Festival USA for 50 years until his retirement in 2009. He died Thursday in New York City. You can read more about his life and contributions to chamber music and the festival by clicking here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New York Times
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Charles Wadsworth, Pianist and Champion of Chamber Music, Dies at 96
Charles Wadsworth, a pianist who parlayed his Southern charm and his passion for chamber music into a career as the founder, director and host of important chamber series — including the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in New York — and whose work helped propel the chamber music boom that began in the 1970s, died on Thursday at a rehabilitation center on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. He was 96. His death was confirmed by his wife, Susan. During his two decades as director of the Chamber Music Society, Mr. Wadsworth was the face of the organization, likely at any time to stride onto the stage of Alice Tully Hall with a broad grin, tousled blond hair and a boyish gait and offer folksy introductions to the music at hand. 'I discovered very early that when people laugh, they relax,' Mr. Wadsworth told an interviewer in 2014. 'They may be at a chamber music concert for the first time, or they may be unfamiliar with the repertory, but my feeling was that if I could get them relaxed, they would be open to listening, and to letting the music happen to them, rather than worrying about whether they understand it. And that seemed to work very well.' He also performed with the society, playing the piano, harpsichord or even the organ in staples of its repertory as well as some of the oddities he found while assembling the society's programs — works like Anton Arensky's Suite No. 1 for Two Pianos, François Couperin's 'Le Parnasse, ou L'Apothéose de Corelli' or Jan Zelenka's Trio Sonata for Two Oboes, Bassoon and Continuo. But since the society's roster included pianists who by Mr. Wadsworth's own admission were more accomplished, he often deferred to them. His real accomplishments took place behind the scenes. Not least was the creation of the society itself, an organization meant to explore the breadth of the chamber music repertory, regardless of the instrumental (or vocal) combinations required. Mr. Wadsworth assembled a core group of 'artist members' — string, wind and keyboard players with active careers, who would commit to performing with the society throughout the season — alongside guest musicians, who would expand the instrumental possibilities and bring an extra measure of star power. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
