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Today's Profile: Nigel Redden, Spoleto Festival USA
By Kristen Poland
Staff Writer
Lt. Gen. William Pinckney gazes with the authority of a Charleston elite from his portrait in Nigel Redden’s office. From its vantage point upon a bookshelf, flanked by photos of Redden’s wife and children, Pinckney’s framed visage oversees Redden’s daily preparations for the Spoleto Festival USA.
Redden’s office is located on the third floor of the downtown Charleston home Pinckney spent the winter of his life building. If he walked into his home today, Pinckney would scarcely recognize it. Lovely and every bit historic Lowcountry on the outside, the inside is a fusion of traditional Charleston antique style and modern office decor, with curvy glass and metal desks and particians.
A sleek metal elevator hides behind the aged door that formerly led into the servants’ stairwell and a glass door frames the entrance to the main spiral staircase.
Redden knows the history of this place and obviously is impressed by Pinckney’s work. He recites facts and points out nuances about the late-18th century home that reveal his familiarity with its history. In the nearly two centuries since Pinckney’s death, the home served many purposes for many different owners before it finally became the home of Charleston’s premier arts festival. The home is, for Redden, emblematic of Charleston. It is also, in many ways, emblematic of Redden and his vision of Spoleto.
“Lt. Gen. Pinckney really cared about this house and he wasn’t alone,” Redden said, referring to Charlestonians’ proclivity for the finer things in life. “That’s the reason Spoleto thrives here. We’re about aesthetics, ethos, things that express human spirit. Charleston is a city in which people relish the idea of living well.”
Redden rejoined Spoleto Festival USA in October 1995. He had previously been general manager from 1986 to 1991. During his four-year hiatus, Redden served as executive director of the Santa Fe Opera and executive producer of the Lincoln Center Festival in New York City. He was formerly the director for the National Endowment for the Arts’ Dance Program from 1981 to 1996 and has served on various NEA panels over the years. He currently serves as director for the Lincoln Center Festival.
Born in Cypress, Redden spent most of his childhood in England, outside of London. He and his family spent about three years in the United States before moving to Rome, where Redden attended high school. Redden now divides his time between Charleston and New York City.
Redden began his love affair with Spoleto in 1969 when, as a college student, he volunteered as a translator for the Italian Spoleto Festival. The festival directors subsequently hired him and he set his sights on becoming the American manager of the Italian festival, a goal he attained in 1986, which was the same year he also became the general manager of the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston.
The festival’s experimental blending of old and new fascinated Redden from the beginning; he was entranced by the shapely modern art sculptures perched in front of ornate medieval cathedrals.
“You saw things that were revolutionary — things that one hadn’t seen before. It was wonderful,” Redden remembers of his first Spoleto. “That wonderful juxtaposition of things which one is and isn’t familiar or comfortable with is very much what the festival was and has been about, and what life it about. It’s about things that make one grow; challenges.”
Redden’s biggest influence over the festival is that of change, he said. He seeks to challenge Spoleto’s audiences and participants by exposing them to the new, the old, non-traditional and, often, the unpopular. The festival will rarely feature a play or opera that is among the most popular.
“The wonderful concept behind the festival is that it’s about all of the arts, from different periods and different cultures. It has deep European roots, but also from around the world. That mix of things makes it what it is,” Redden said. “One thing I’ve felt strongly about over the years is that the various parts of the program should reflect someone’s passion; if it simply becomes a question of people making choices because there is nothing better; that is the ultimate defeat.”
Redden also changes each year the way he approaches the festival. As general director, Redden’s hands are involved in every aspect of the festival from fundraising and marketing to programming and artists’ contracts. This is perfect for him because, like the festival itself, Redden is constantly challenging and reinventing his own artistic passions.
“The reason that I love this festival, and I do love it, is that it allows me to be passionate about opera one year, ballet the next and a music group the third year, or a theater, a building, a story, whatever it is that we’re doing,” Redden said. “It also allows me to learn things I didn’t know before; it’s a sense of discovery.”
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