Friday May 28th at the Murrary Center on George Street is the official opening to the  Piccolo Spoleto Festival with Opening Night Fête. Immediately following the opening performance of the incomparable Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, festival patrons and artists alike will mingle under the stars at the Murray Center.  The party kick off the 34th festival season in high style and include full bar, cocktail supper, live music and dancing.

For the last 30 years the Piccolo Spoleto Festival has been produced and presented by the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs. In the decades since its inception, Spoleto Festival USA has firmly established itself as one of the world’s leading festivals, presenting more than 200 world or American premieres.

Spoleto Festival USA was founded in 1977 by Pulitzer Prize-winning Italian composer Gian Carlo Menotti, Christopher Keene, and others who sought to create an American counterpart to their annual Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy. Looking for a city that would provide the charm of Spoleto as well as its wealth of theaters, churches and other performances spaces, they selected Charleston as the ideal location. The historic city provided a perfect fit: intimate enough that the Festival would captivate the entire city, yet cosmopolitan enough to provide an enthusiastic audience and robust infrastructure.

Piccolo Spoleto is the perfect complement to the international scope of its parent festival and its 700 events in 17 days, transforms Charleston into an exhilarating celebration of performing, literary and visual arts. Piccolo Spoleto's traditional program offerings include visual arts exhibits, classical music, jazz, dance, theatre, poetry readings, children's activities, choral music, ethnic cultural presentations, crafts, and film.

 

This year The Festival announced the return of  Flora in the revitalized  Dock Street Theatre. In 1735 Flora reached Charleston, rumored to be the first opera to be performed in the colonies. It was such a success it was repeated the following year in the first purpose-built theatre in America, the Dock Street Theatre. Now 274 years later, Flora returns to the Dock Street as the theatre reopens after three years of renovation,  Starts Saturday May 29.
More Information on Flora

Piccolo's mission is to provide access to the Spoleto Festival experience for everyone, regardless of their economic, social or physical circumstances and to provide the opportunity for excellent local and regional artists, writers and performances to be presented in Piccolo's "local venue." Piccolo Spoleto offers something wonderful for everyone - from classical to contemporary, from traditional to cutting edge. One of the unique aspects of Piccolo Spoleto is the accessibility to the Spoleto Festival experience. Half of Piccolo's events are admission-free, and the rest are offered at very modest ticket prices. Festival runs May 28-June 13. Spoleto's Official Website

"Live music." That common saying may contain some truth, but these
days the word "live" is having less and less to do with music. For many
people, a dj is their form of live music. Despite what dj's would like
to have you believe, musicians make excellent entertainment.

In the first place, people enjoy human performance. Many musicians
like great athletes are multi-talented. They will croon on the tenor
saxophone right to your soul, then turn around and chunk out a funky
rhythm on a Fender Stratocaster. Can a dj play a turntable behind his
head or with his teeth? Professional musicians love to sing and groove
on just about any style of music from a Frank Sinatra to Outkast. They
especially enjoy playing when the audience is responding to their
performance.

In the second place, musicians are students of the arts. Musicians
do not merely "push buttons." They've had years of practice in their
homes, and they do their thing on stage. Unlike dj's musicians do not
try to sing over or add other loud or strange noises to program music.
Once a song starts it flows to the end and in the unfortunate event of
a power shortage musicians can continue to entertain acoustically until
power is restored. Even non-professional musicians usually understand
"the show must go on" concept.

Lastly, one of the most attractive features of bands as
entertainment is the affinity between them and their audience. Watching
a great drummer is never boring because they're constantly
moving...feeling. An animated solo violinist playing an old wooden
Stradivarius violin has a much greater chance of reaching into your
soul and stirring your emotions than a dj with an array of magnetic
speakers and digital amplifiers no matter how great his system sounds.
It's an apple trying to be an orange. It's the difference between human
blood and electricity.

Contrary to popular opinion, bands can be affordable. Just like with
a dj, finding a band well in advance and securing them with a low down
payment, the price can be negotiated to avoid costly or inadequate
entertainment. Bands will even throw in a free cocktail hour or an
extra half hour at the end to secure a date! Many bands are now
offering "dj time." This is when the musician hat comes off and the dj
hat is put on to play the Techno, House, Hip-Hop, etc...Genres of
today. People who have small parties should appreciate these
characteristics of bands. However, many people who have large parties
opt to have bands because they love the musician personality. In many
ways, musicians are the ideal entertainers.

Candido Bretto
PartyBands.com

Partybands.com is home to over 200+ bands from all around the USA.

Helping Feed Homeless and Hungry Americans

Lighthouse Food Farm wants to give Hungry Americans hope where there is no hope.

Lighthouse Food Farm is a standalone Christian Agency and is depending upon many Companies and Individuals like you to help with this greatly needed work that serves so many.

We donate 100% of the all the crops that we grow to Soup Kitchens, elderly, Shut-Ins and to individuals that we learn that need help from the different local authorities, churches and other agencys.

We are a Non-Profit Organization, our 501(c)3 Tax-Exempt Status is in Progress. This means your donations and contributions are Tax Deductible Exemptions to the Lighthouse Food Farm with 501(c)3 status pending. Together we can continue to Help Feed Hungry Americans and Homeless Americans. Your generous donations and contributions are greatly appreciated.

We have had help from many individuals, small businesses, local Farms, Garden centers, Small and Large Corporations like: Wal-Mart, Lowe's, Home Depot, Park's Seed, Dicksons Tractor, Local Chicken Farms, Wilson's Processing, local grocery stores, and people willing to allow us to borrow their equipment when needed here at the Lighthouse Food Farm. There have been many more individuals that don't live in our area that donated to help us help others in need. This doesn't begin to cover all who have donated time, expertise or monetarily to help the Lighthouse Food Farm. Thank you all for the Help that has made this Lighthouse Food Farm a Great success.

Lighthouse Food Farm Mission Statement

Our mission is to eradicate hunger, alleviate poverty and green our environment. We also bring together children, adults and seniors in urban areas to plant food gardens on unused land and space throughout America. Community members are given the tools and education to create a lasting sustainable solution to these issues and receive hope for a better future. Neighbors share their fresh, healthy, organic produce with local food banks to help others in need. This system of working together for a common cause while increasing diversity builds safer cities. Planting beautiful food gardens helps to lower the heat index in urban areas, aiding the fight against global warming.

Visit Lighthouse Food Farm - Feeding Hungry Americans for more details of our mission.

 

Lighthouse Food Farm is Helping Feed Hungry Americans

Lighthouse Food Farm has been focused on upper region of South Carolina. Because of the Great need we have expanded our ideals and work across America.

We grow fresh vegetables and fruits to donate to help feed hungry Americans. All vegetables and fruits are organically grown. We raise a spring crop of the normal spring vegetables and during the winter we grow greens like Turnip Greens, Collards, Curly Mustard and Kale. We donate the fresh vegetables and fruit to soup kitchens, food banks, food shelves and to people that have fallen through the cracks of our system.

We are continuing to expand our farms as the need for what we do is expanding as well. We expand our crops in the event of finding a good deal in property to purchase or if someone is willing to donate the use of their land for us to use.

Our emphasis and attention has been focused on an outcry of distress in Hunger, due to the excessive layoffs from the Job market.

We have dealt with the Elderly, Shut-ins, displaced families, medically Indigent, and those that are working, but having a difficult time in making ends meet.

Our great focus is toward the specialized needs in surrounding Areas of immediate Hunger that faces so many today. There isn't enough money if just one person in the family is working; children are not eating well with the common family. It takes every penny when you have small babies to exist.

Have you ever looked into the eyes of a hungry child and watched them when a small amount of food was put before them? It will make your heart sing with delight to know you have helped that suffering to end.

We have looked on these suffering issues for too long. Help us give them Hope.

Lighthouse Food Farm wants to give Americans hope where there is no hope.

Lighthouse Food Farm is a standalone Christian Agency and is depending upon many Companies and Individuals like you to help with this greatly needed work that serves so many.

Thank you in advance for your consideration in this matter to Help End Hunger.

 

If you wish to make a contribution, please make it to:

Mail Contribution to:

Please Make Checks Payable to: Lighthouse Food Farm

Lighthouse Food Farm

% Jim Bonham

1282 Dr. Johns Road

Westminster, SC 29693

or

Use PayPal, Credit Card or Debit Card to Contribute

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jim Bonham - Executive Director
Lighthouse Food Farm
http://www.jimbonham.com

See Our FREE Auction
http://www.jimbonham.com/auction

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http://www.jimbonham.com/classifieds

 

 

Enjoy "Farmer Jim's"

1st Gospel Broadcast

"Farmer Jim's Jukebox"