Charles Wadsworth to retire after 2009 Spoleto

The announcement came amid an array of signals during the festival suggesting Wadsworth was preparing to step down.

The first was the appointment of Geoff Nuttall, violinist for the St. Lawrence String Quartet, Spoleto’s ensemble in residence for many years, as associate artistic director of the chamber series.

Wadsworth had never required an associate director in all his years of programming the series.

Then came a quote in The Charleston Post and Courier in which Wadsworth said that Nuttall was a suitable candidate to continue the mission of the chamber music series. In noting this, Wadsworth suggested that he’d been considering retirement.

An email to a Spoleto spokesperson asking if Nuttall will be appointed the new director of the chamber music series has not been returned yet.

If that’s the case, then Nuttall will have some big and very fashionable shoes to fill.

More importantly, he will face the challenge of Wadsworth’s cult of personality.

Originally reported in the Charleston City Paper’s award-winning Spoleto Buzz.