Vice President of Performing and Visual Arts Deborah Sunya Moore today announced changes in her areas of responsibility that will further highlight chamber music and arts education at Chautauqua Institution. Through the generosity of Sarah Hagen McWilliams, Chautauqua will present an expanded offering of chamber music under the moniker of Chautauqua Chamber Music, which will be composed of two series, doubling the professional chamber offerings at Chautauqua during its summer seasons: the Guest Artist Series on Monday afternoons and a new Resident Artist Series on Saturday afternoons, both in Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall. Additionally, Chautauqua Chamber Music will include more access...
Three Taps of the Gavel AddressClosing of the 144th Assembly Michael E. Hill18th President of Chautauqua InstitutionAugust 27, 2017 “When I was a kid, ‘sanctuary’ meant only one thing. It was the big room with the stained-glass windows and hard wooden benches where my family worshipped every Sunday. Church attendance was not optional for my sisters and me, so that sanctuary was where I learned to pray — pray that the service would end and God would release me back into the wild. I also learned that not all prayers are answered, no matter how ardent.” These words from Parker...
President Michael Hill’s Remarks for the Charlottesville Vigil I confess to being at a loss today in the wake of what can only be described as an act of homegrown terrorism perpetrated on good people in Charlottesville, Virginia this past weekend. I am at a loss to offer words that might attempt to make sense out of something so senseless. I am at a loss to provide an adequate expression of sympathy to those who continue to feel beaten down by hatred and ignorance and the cancer that is racism. I am at a loss to think of a way...
Chautauqua, NY – Chautauqua Theater Company (CTC), under the leadership of Artistic Director Andrew Borba and Managing Director Sarah Clare Corporandy, will close its 34th season with William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, directed by Dawn Monique Williams. Romeo and Juliet will run August 11-18 at Bratton Theater. In Romeo and Juliet, perhaps the most famous ever written, love is romantic, overpowering, passionate, violent, and ultimately redemptive. The hot summer days of Verona create a pressure cooker for young lovers caught between feuding families and swept away by the powerful nature of love. The CTC cast includes guest artists Nafeesa Monroe,...
In the weeks leading up to our Food Festival we have been busy adding spectacular guest chefs, unique demonstrations and other exciting events to the week’s schedule. Read our recent additions and don’t forget to purchase your festival tickets! Monday, Live cooking competitions in Bestor Plaza Don’t miss live cooking competitions in Bestor Plaza during the Chautauqua Food Festival, August 20-25. On Monday, August 25, the Festival Stage will host the Ultimate Cheeseburger Showdown, with Jacques Pépin as judge, as well as a trio of cooking competitions with Nickel City Chef. Described by many as Buffalo’s own version of Iron Chef, Nickel City Chef is as...
Following a selection of Mendelssohn performed by a Student Octet of the Music School Festival Orchestra, Timothy Muffit, Music Director The invitation for today’s event asked you to join me for my first President’s Address to the Bestor Society. This has been a season of firsts for me as the 18th President of Chautauqua, and truth be told, as I progress with you through our 144th Assembly, I feel both a briskness in the pace of this season and, at moments, as if time has simply stopped, asking us to pause and to drink in all the blessings this sacred place...
Chautauqua, NY – Chautauqua Theater Company (CTC), under the leadership of Artistic Director Andrew Borba and Managing Director Sarah Clare Corporandy, is proud to continue its support of new play development with the 2017 New Play Workshops, running August 1-5 at Bratton Theater. The 2017 New Play Workshops are Birthday Candles by Noah Haidle and Building the Wall by Robert Schenkkan. The New Play Workshop (NPW) Program is the arm of Chautauqua Theater Company dedicated to fostering important new American playwrights and providing a safe and stimulating playground for artists to develop new work for the theater. As such, it...
The award-winning novel The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, regarded as a seminal work of Chicano literature, is inspiring an original musical composition, inter-arts performance and an art exhibition at Chautauqua Institution this summer. The book tells the story of Esperanza Cordero, a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago, inventing for herself who and what she will become. It is among 20 books featured as selections of the 2017 Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle and its Young Readers program. Mango Suite, composed by Derek Bermel, is a 45- to 50-minute symphonic work that reimagines Cisneros’s observations through...
Twelve sailors from many different locations flocked to Chautauqua Institution in late May for a four-day course to achieve their Level 1 Small Boat Instructor Certifications for on- and off-water instruction. Much like schoolteachers have to go through extensive training in order to receive all of their proper certifications, so must sailing instructors. During these courses, it is crucial that the students not only learn proper on-water safety techniques, get vital hands-on time with small boats and understand important procedures, but also find new efficient, creative ways to teach this knowledge to others. According to the course directors, some of...
The Chautauqua Lakers of Special Olympics New York’s Western Region visited Chautauqua Golf Club Tuesday to sharpen their skills, learn golf etiquette, play a few holes, and — most importantly — connect with friends while having fun. Every Tuesday, the Chautauqua Lakers bring approximately 40 athletes and 25 volunteers to Chautauqua Golf Club, setting up skill games all over the practice facilities in an attempt to simulate what an actual Special Olympics event would look like. Athletes practice putting, chip shots, pitch shots, iron shots, wood shots and then, after proving that they can play at a more advanced...