Spas to Become Vice President of Religion; Sutton Begins Service as Senior Pastor in September CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. — Chautauqua Institution today announced the appointment of two nationally recognized leaders to shepherd religious life and programming at the nearly 150-year-old not-for-profit and within its interfaith community. Melissa Spas, currently the acting director of Lake Institute on Faith & Giving at Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, has been named the Institution’s new vice president of religion. The Right Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, will become the Institution’s senior pastor. The appointment of two individuals to...
As the author selected from five finalists by guest judge Aisha Sabatini Sloan, Pitsirilos will receive $5,000 and will give a public lecture and reading at a celebratory event 5 p.m. EDT Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022, in the parlor of the Athenaeum Hotel as part of the Chautauqua Institution’s 2022 Summer Assembly. A prose and comic book writer with work in numerous anthologies and a 2021 Broken Pencil finalist zinester, Pitsirilos has been called a new voice “transforming the genres” of science fiction and fantasy, and “revitalizing the short comic form.” She holds degrees from the University of Michigan and...
Amphitheater to Return to 100% Capacity; Tickets Available Now CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. — Chautauqua Institution today announced an initial slate of 2022 Amphitheater popular concerts, including appearances by The Avett Brothers (Aug. 24), Sheryl Crow (July 12), Lyle Lovett and His Large Band (July 29), Rhiannon Giddens with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra (Aug. 23), comedian Jay Leno (July 22) and the first ensemble winners of NBC’s “The Voice,” Girl Named Tom (Aug. 19). The summer concert season begins with a show by popular violin-voice duo Joshua Bell and Larisa Martínez (June 25) and closes with a week of concerts — including Punch Brothers (Aug. 22) and Emmylou Harris and Mary Chapin Carpenter (Aug. 25) — alongside the popular Chautauqua Food...
CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. — Chautauqua Institution today announced the appointment of Laura Savia as Vice President of Performing and Visual Arts following an extensive national search. In this role, Savia will be a critical member of the Institution’s senior management team, overseeing all activities in the performing and visual arts including the popular summer Amphitheater concert series; the resident Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, Chautauqua Opera Company & Conservatory, Chautauqua Theater Company and Chautauqua Visual Arts programs; the prestigious Chautauqua Festival Schools of Performing and Visual Arts; and highly regarded series in dance, chamber music and family entertainment. An accomplished artistic leader who...
Celebrated Choreographer Silas Farley to Join Company, Workshop New Work CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. — Chautauqua Institution and The Washington Ballet today jointly announced a partnership that will bring the Company to the Institution’s grounds in August 2022 for two weeks of public programs and performances — including with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra — plus workshops with the Chautauqua School of Dance. Celebrated choreographer and teacher Silas Farley, recently retired as a dancer with the New York City Ballet and now serving as dean of dance at The Colburn School in Los Angeles, will join the residency and workshop a new Company...
CHAUTAUQUA, NY — The Chautauqua Opera Company and Conservatory, the resident opera company and conservatory of Chautauqua Institution, today announced the first season of its newly unified program under the leadership of General and Artistic Director Steven Osgood and Conservatory Director Marlena Malas. The company and former Chautauqua Voice Program unified in fall 2021. The Chautauqua Opera Company’s three 2022 productions will be Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca; Kamala Sankaram and Susan Yankowitz’s chamber opera Thumbprint; and The Mother of Us All, by Virgil Thomson and Gertrude Stein. The Opera Conservatory will produce Don Giovanni by Lorenzo Da Ponte and Wolfgang Amadeus...
CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. — Chautauqua Theater Company (CTC), the resident theater company of Chautauqua Institution, today announced its return to Bratton Theater in 2022, with three fully produced productions: Indecent by Paula Vogel, Animals Out of Paper by Rajiv Joseph, and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee, as well as three New Play Workshops. The 2022 season will be Andrew Borba’s final season as the company’s artistic director. “After two seasons away, returning to that sacred theater with a full conservatory and these extraordinary plays will sure make it harder to say goodbye,” shares Borba. “This is a huge...
Olga Sanchez Saltveit to Join as Director of New Work Chautauqua Theater Company (CTC), the resident theater company of Chautauqua Institution, today announced the appointment of Olga Sanchez Saltveit as Director of New Work, an inaugural position for the company. Sanchez Saltveit’s hire is the next step in CTC’s initiative to expand New Play Workshop programming and residencies. It also aligns with the overall efforts of Chautauqua Institution to amplify important and diverse American voices in the arts, fostering new work and catalyzing the creative process. As Director of New Work, Sanchez Saltveit will build and maintain connections to playwrights,...
Dear Chautauquans: Yesterday we announced internally that we will require all Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua Hotel Company and Chautauqua Foundation staff to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 31, 2022 (or by start date for new employees). Now that the FDA has approved vaccines for individuals age 16 and older, following months of emergency approval, we think this is the natural next step for us to take as responsible stewards of community health and safety. The vaccination policy will apply to all employees, including those ages 14–16 who are authorized to receive vaccines under an Emergency Use Authorization. To be...
Chautauqua Institution President Michael E. Hill today announced the Institution’s 149th Summer Assembly will return to its normal schedule and cadence, June 25–Aug. 28, 2022. This decision follows a two-day meeting of the Institution’s Board of Trustees Nov. 5–6. The Board reviewed updates on initiatives stemming from the strategic plan 150 Forward, including outcomes for the 2021 season, which exceeded projections for both attendance and revenue. “We were delighted and heartened to see that, even amid the continuing pandemic and our corresponding need to modify programming and enforce health and safety regulations, that patrons returned to Chautauqua in numbers nearing the...
