Institution, CSO Reach New Contract Agreement

Chautauqua Institution today announced the 2026 season of its resident Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra (CSO), alongside a new three-year collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the orchestra’s musicians and a shared commitment to raising endowment funds for the orchestra.

The agreement, covering 2026 through 2028, maintains musician compensation while supporting the Institution’s focus on long-term financial sustainability and audience development. It was negotiated following the Institution’s fall 2025 announcement of $5.7 million in operating budget expense reductions affecting all departments and activities.

Under the new agreement, guaranteed CSO services are reduced from 52 to 46, resulting in a three-concert reduction per season. Total compensation across the summer for the CSO musicians will remain flat to 2025, increasing by 3.1% in the second year and by 2.4% in the third year, with some benefits increasing year over year as well. With this CBA, the Institution commits an investment of more than $7 million in direct CSO expenses over the life of the contract.

“The CSO is a critical and cherished part of Chautauqua and its musicians are of the highest caliber,” said Interim Chief Executive Kyle Keogh. “In reducing the season by three concerts, we were also able to responsibly provide a needed improvement to the musicians’ per-service compensation rate, keeping their total summer pay flat to 2025. Additionally, this change provides flexibility to program three additional evenings of popular entertainment — a category that readily attracts and retains new audiences.”

Keogh added, “symphonic music remains central to Chautauqua’s summer programming, and audiences will continue to enjoy orchestral concerts three to four nights a week most weeks in the season.”

Shared Commitment to the CSO’s Future

Discussions with the musicians of the CSO also revealed a shared commitment to strengthening long-term philanthropic support for the orchestra. Beginning in 2026, the Institution will prioritize fundraising for the CSO, with a focus on building endowment, including the formation of a new advisory committee and the co-sponsorship of a gala fundraising event on July 7, 2026.

“I am incredibly proud of the collaborative work between musicians and administrators on this agreement,” said Chief Program Officer Deborah Sunya Moore. “Ensuring Chautauqua’s long-term financial sustainability and program excellence requires shared commitment from across our community, and the CSO musicians have been true partners in this effort. While the reduction in concerts is meaningful, per-service compensation has been adjusted to provide stability for the musicians of this incredible orchestra. The Institution is grateful to the CSO musicians for partnering with us through this model change and important financial re-set.”

Moore added, “We are excited to focus on mounting an artistically captivating 2026 season and raising philanthropy to ensure a bright future for this extraordinary symphony.”

2026 Season Highlights

Under the leadership of Music Director Rossen Milanov, the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra will present 22 performances during the 2026 Chautauqua Summer Assembly, with concerts offered during Weeks One through Eight. CSO musicians will also continue to provide support for Chautauqua Opera Company productions.

The stylistically diverse season features a wide range of classical, contemporary, and popular repertoire. Classical highlights include Holst’s The Planets, Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony, Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 12, Dvořák’s New World Symphony, and Bernstein’s Jeremiah Symphony, as well as Carmina Burana performed with the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus and works by contemporary composers including Dobrinka Tabakova, John Corigliano, Michael Abels, Christopher Theofanidis, and Missy Mazzoli. The season also includes appearances by Kelli O’Hara and Sutton Foster, Natalie Merchant, Tony DeSare, Troupe Vertigo, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, and the Denyce Graves Foundation’s Generational Voices inaugural cohort, along with programs such as Dolly Parton’s Threads: My Songs in Symphony; several concerts will feature Principal Pops Conductor Stuart Chafetz on the podium.

Music Director Rossen Milanov said, “For nearly 100 years, the CSO has been one of the most beloved experiences in Chautauqua. Our world-class orchestra this season will provide wide, diverse, stimulating and inspirational programming that I hope contributes to what makes the Chautauqua experience unique!”

Tickets for all Chautauqua Amphitheater performances are available by phone at 716-357-6250 or tickets.chq.org. Current walk-up and phone hours for the Chautauqua Ticket Office, located in the Dr. Robert R. Hesse Welcome and Business Center, are 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Monday–Thursday (closed weekends and holidays).

Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra 2026 Season

Subject to change