SPOLETO FESTIVAL USA AND PHENOTYPIC RECORDINGS UNVEIL NEW ALBUM LIVE FROM SPOLETO 2025: CHAMBER MUSIC VOL. 2 “VIVALDI MEETS VAHDAT”

RECORDED LIVE DURING THE 2025 FESTIVAL SEASON

PART OF A MULTI-PROJECT PARTNERSHIP WITH APPLE MUSIC CLASSICAL

May 8, 2026—Spoleto Festival USA and Phenotypic Recordings today unveil Live from Spoleto 2025: Chamber Music, Vol. 2 “Vivaldi Meets Vahdat,” the second installment in a two-album collection capturing performances from the Festival’s Bank of America Chamber Music series—listen/share HERE and pre-order the Double CD HERE. The series is presented as part of its exclusive multi-project partnership with Apple Music Classical.

“Spoleto is about adventure and excitement—about how different art forms can collide with each other to create something new,” said Spoleto Festival USA General Director and CEO Dr. Mena Mark Hanna. “Chamber music is one of the Festival’s core artistic pillars, and these recordings reflect the same spirit of curiosity, daring, and immediacy that defines Spoleto Festival USA as a whole.”

Recorded live during Spoleto Festival USA’s concentrated 17-day run in Charleston, South Carolina, Live from Spoleto 2025: Chamber Music, Vol. 2 “Vivaldi Meets Vahdat” brings listeners inside the historic Dock Street Theatre, capturing performances as they happen in real time, shaped by proximity, trust, and musicians listening closely to one another. The album expands the sense of dialogue across time and culture, interweaving songs by Iranian vocalist and 2025 Spoleto Festival USA, Suzan D. Boyd Composer-in-Residence Mahsa Vahdat with movements from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. The result is a single, continuous arc rather than a set of contrasts, in which Persian song and Baroque concerto speak directly to one another, reframing both traditions through sustained listening and shared space.

The album’s first single, Mahsa Vahdat’s “Dialogue With the Beloved,” landed in April exclusively via Apple Music Classical. Structured as an intimate exchange between voice and instruments, “Dialogue With the Beloved” emphasizes clarity of text and sustained melodic phrasing. The ensemble provides a supportive, transparent framework that underscores the song’s contemplative character. The track is performed by Mahsa Vahdat (voice), Daniel Chong (violin), Daniel Phillips (violin), Geneva Lewis (violin), Livia Sohn (violin), Jessica Bodner (viola), Ayane Kozasa (viola), Raman Ramakrishnan (cello), Paul Wiancko (cello), Anthony Manzo (bass) and Pedja Mužijević (piano).

The new album follows the release of Live from Spoleto 2025: Chamber Music, Vol. 1, which set the stage for this second installment with a program that moves fluidly across styles and traditions. The first volume opens with Dinuk Wijeratne’s Love Triangle, a volatile, open-ended work in which jazz impulses and South Asian inflections push against classical form. Elsewhere, familiar works are reshaped by the conditions of live performance: Borodin’s Nocturne from his String Quartet No. 2 in D major unfolds as a shared moment of repose, while Pedro Iturralde’s Pequeña Czarda brings an earthy, improvisatory edge through Steven Banks’ saxophone.

Curated by Paul Wiancko, the Charles E. and Andrea L. Volpe Director of Chamber Music, the two albums are guided by an interest in music that feels alive in performance. “I look for the energy of improvisation in everything,” said Wiancko. “Music played with such deep understanding that it feels newly invented each time.”

Taken together, the two Live from Spoleto 2025: Chamber Music albums offer a vivid portrait of the Festival’s chamber music series in full flight, capturing not only performances, but the spirit of a festival where music is made in the moment: alive, unfiltered, and shared.

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. 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, South Carolina’s historic theaters, churches, and outdoor spaces with performances in opera; theater; dance; and chamber, symphonic, choral, and jazz music. With General Director & CEO, Dr. Mena Mark Hanna at its helm, the 2026 season takes place from May 22 to June 7 in various locations throughout Charleston. Spoleto Festival USA is a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization. For more information, visit spoletousa.org.

ABOUT PHENOTYPIC RECORDINGS

Phenotypic Recordings brings to light new music by world-class musicians and innovative composers, with a focus on music that highlights the most important issues facing the world today. Artists include Kronos Quartet, Osvaldo Golijov, Kenji Bunch, Modern Violin Ensemble (MoVE), W4RP and more. As another way of amplifying artistic voices, Phenotypic Recordings donates revenue from streaming and downloads to support humanitarian causes identified by the artists making the music. For more information on the label and artists visit phenotypicrecordings.com.

ABOUT APPLE MUSIC CLASSICAL

Apple Music Classical is the world’s leading classical music app. Launched in March 2023, Apple Music Classical makes it easier to find any recording in the world’s largest classical music catalog of over 6 million tracks with fully optimized search built specifically for classical, while offering the highest audio quality available. With high-resolution lossless and immersive Spatial Audio, listeners can experience classical favorites in a whole new way. Expertly curated playlists and insightful composer biographies as well as the addition of over 50,000 booklets featuring in-depth liner notes, translations, plus the only global classical music chart and more, make Apple Music Classical the best place for classical music lovers. Apple Music subscribers can enjoy Apple Music Classical at no additional cost.

For more information, please contact Krista Williams, Christopher Emond or Carla Sacks at Sacks & Co., 212.741.1000.

TRACKLIST
LIVE FROM SPOLETO 2025: CHAMBER MUSIC, VOL. 2
“VIVALDI MEETS VAHDAT”

1. Mahsa Vahdat — A Thousand Birds Will Chant Your Song
Mahsa Vahdat, voice · Daniel Chong, violin · Daniel Phillips, violin · Geneva Lewis, violin Livia Sohn, violin · Jessica Bodner, viola · Ayane Kozasa, viola · Raman Ramakrishnan, cello · Paul Wiancko, cello · Anthony Manzo, bass · Pedja Mužijević, piano

2. Antonio Vivaldi — The Four Seasons “Summer” – Presto in G minor
Daniel Chong, violin · Daniel Phillips, violin · Geneva Lewis, violin · Livia Sohn, violin Jessica Bodner, viola · Ayane Kozasa, viola · Raman Ramakrishnan, cello · Paul Wiancko, cello · Anthony Manzo, bass · Pedja Mužijević, piano

3. Mahsa Vahdat — Dialogue With the Beloved
Mahsa Vahdat, voice · Daniel Chong, violin · Daniel Phillips, violin · Geneva Lewis, violin · Livia Sohn, violin · Jessica Bodner, viola · Ayane Kozasa, viola · Raman Ramakrishnan, cello · Paul Wiancko, cello · Anthony Manzo, bass · Pedja Mužijević, piano

4. Antonio Vivaldi — The Four Seasons “Autumn” – Adagio molto in D minor
Pedja Mužijević, piano · Daniel Chong, violin · Geneva Lewis, violin · Daniel Phillips, violin · Livia Sohn, violin · Jessica Bodner, viola · Ayane Kozasa, viola · Raman Ramakrishnan, cello · Paul Wiancko, cello · Anthony Manzo, bass

5. Mahsa Vahdat — Vaya Vaya
Mahsa Vahdat, voice · Daniel Chong, violin · Daniel Phillips, violin · Geneva Lewis, violin · Livia Sohn, violin · Jessica Bodner, viola · Ayane Kozasa, viola · Raman Ramakrishnan, cello · Paul Wiancko, cello

6. Antonio Vivaldi — The Four Seasons “Winter” – Allegro non molto in F minor
Livia Sohn, violin · Daniel Chong, violin · Geneva Lewis, violin · Daniel Phillips, violin · Livia Sohn, violin · Jessica Bodner, viola · Ayane Kozasa, viola · Raman Ramakrishnan, cello · Paul Wiancko, cello · Anthony Manzo, bass · Pedja Mužijević, piano

www.spoletousa.org

www.phenotypicrecordings.com

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