Children’s School Old First Night Sing-a-long at Smith Wilkes Hall.
Join us to wish CHQ a Happy Birthday at Smith Wilkes Hall!
Join us to wish CHQ a Happy Birthday at Smith Wilkes Hall!
Celebrating the United States semiquincentennial, Chautauqua presents Week Six, “America at 250: In Partnership with The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.” The milestone anniversary offers an opportunity to survey the previous quarter millennium – how a collection of British colonies became the world’s pre-eminent constitutional democracy, with major successes, failures and continued struggles along the way –...
The Colonial Williamsburg Historic Trades and Skills community uses 18th-century tools and techniques to apprentice in and eventually master more than 20 historic trades and skills. These world-renowned experts not only make goods and provide services to the Historic Area, they also consult and produce for other cultural institutions around the world. Carpenters and joiners...
The Colonial Williamsburg Historic Trades and Skills community uses 18th-century tools and techniques to apprentice in and eventually master more than 20 historic trades and skills. These world-renowned experts not only make goods and provide services to the Historic Area, they also consult and produce for other cultural institutions around the world. Milliners design, make,...
Bird, Tree & Garden Club lunchtime lecture series Sigrid Jakob is a freelance marketing strategist during the day and mycophile in her spare time. She’s an avid member and president of the New York Mycological Society, a mushroom club that goes out and observes fungi in New York City’s parks 52 weeks a year. She...
Sensei Dhara Kowal- Kowal is Dharma Successor to Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede, who sanctioned her as a Zen teacher in 2022 and gave her Dharma Transmission in 2025. As a resident teacher and priest (ordained in 2023), she serves as Co-Director of the Rochester Zen Center, in partnership with Sensei John Pulleyn. In the preceding years,...
Manisha Sinha is the Draper Chair in American History at the University of Connecticut and immediate Past President of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic. She received her Ph.D from Columbia University where her dissertation was nominated for the Bancroft Prize. She was nominated to the OAH Distinguished Lecture Series in 2003....
Climate Change Initiative-Special Filmmaker Event! Free Admission! Icelandic writer and filmmaker Andri Snær Magnason returns to Chautauqua Cinema with his new film Time & Water, a vibrant elegy which preserves vanishing glaciers, departed grandparents, family memories, and flowing time in his personal archives, transforming loss into a time capsule. "This is a beautiful film. It's...
During "Becoming History with Stephen Seals, Nation Builder James Lafayette", learn how Colonial Williamsburg’s Nation Builders bring the voices of the past to life with a behind the scenes look into the art and craft of interpretation and how they move from research to scripts, to performance, to impact. The story of America is full...
Old First Night is Chautauqua’s birthday party, and all are invited! In the early years of Chautauqua, the season's first night was not in late June but early August. Therefore, Old First Night (OFN) is a celebration of the original first night of the season at Chautauqua. This event begins with music from Thursday Morning...
As Seen on America's Got Talent, Puppy Pals Live is a family fun action-packed show where adopted and rescued dogs perform spectacular stunts and breathtaking feats. Watch as Puppy Pals Live leads the puppies and audience through challenging and comical tricks as the pooches show everyone who is really boss! Full of canine stunts and...
Director Karen Somers' documentary Pursuing Light follows the life and legacy of Bill Strickland, whose philosophy of "hope through opportunity" has impacted thousands of lives. This film traces his personal journey and examines how arts education, workforce training, and environments of beauty can help individuals transcend circumstances and achieve their fullest potential. Introduction by Kwame...
Enjoy the beauty of the lake during our sunrise paddle. This is not a guided tour but an opportunity to rent a kayak, SUP or canoe for an enjoyable hour at sunrise. Reservations accepted one day in advance at the Sports Club. Contact sportsclub@chq.org with questions.
Sensei Dhara Kowal- Kowal is Dharma Successor to Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede, who sanctioned her as a Zen teacher in 2022 and gave her Dharma Transmission in 2025. As a resident teacher and priest (ordained in 2023), she serves as Co-Director of the Rochester Zen Center, in partnership with Sensei John Pulleyn. In the preceding years,...
Monte Thompson was a professional dancer, and also spent years as a restauranteur. His life was spent on his feet. Now retired, he is interested in continuing to be able to move easily and gracefully while using breathing and stretching techniques to help quiet his mind and prepare him to face each day with purpose...
The Rev. Anna Carter Florence is the Peter Marshall Professor of Preaching at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Ga and an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church. She is also currently serving as Co-Director of the Columbia Preachers Studio for Renewal, a Lilly-funded Compelling Preaching grant. Before joining the Columbia faculty in 1998, Florence served...
Continuing Chautauqua’s weeklong commemoration of “America at 250,” two of the country’s pre-eminent historians present a mainstage conversation about the moral foundations of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and how they have been interpreted and reinterpreted throughout American history. David W. Blight is Sterling Professor of History and Director of the Gilder Lehrman...
The Colonial Williamsburg Historic Trades and Skills community uses 18th-century tools and techniques to apprentice in and eventually master more than 20 historic trades and skills. These world-renowned experts not only make goods and provide services to the Historic Area, they also consult and produce for other cultural institutions around the world. Carpenters and joiners...
The Colonial Williamsburg Historic Trades and Skills community uses 18th-century tools and techniques to apprentice in and eventually master more than 20 historic trades and skills. These world-renowned experts not only make goods and provide services to the Historic Area, they also consult and produce for other cultural institutions around the world. Milliners design, make,...
Enjoy paddling while learning about historic sites along the shores of Chautauqua Institution during this hour-long guided kayak tour. The tour begins and ends at the Sports Club. The cost is for rental of single or tandem kayak plus $12 per person for the tour guide. Limited spots so please reserve one day before the...
Brandon Dillard is Director of Historic Interpretation and Audience Engagement at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, the iconic home and historic plantation in Virginia, where he has worked for sixteen years. At Monticello, he leads interpretation efforts and works on exhibits, programs, and training. As a public historian, he focuses on best practices for encouraging connection between...
During "Becoming History with Kathatine Pittman, Nation Builder Martha Washington", learn how Colonial Williamsburg’s Nation Builders bring the voices of the past to life with a behind the scenes look into the art and craft of interpretation and how they move from research to scripts, to performance, to impact. The story of America is full...
The conclusion to Jon M. Chu's 2024 Wicked is "a soaring musical triumph filled with standout performances, extraordinary craft, and an emotional core that is sure to delight fans young and old." -Linda Marric, HeyUGuys "From its director to its cast, the movie is a testament to diversity (species included) as a common good as...
Kim Hehr is a lifelong Chautauquan and a certified level 2 teacher of Kundalini Yoga and Meditation. She has been a yoga and meditation practitioner for 30 years and has been teaching Kundalini Yoga and Meditation for 25 years. A retired hospice nurse, she is presently the coordinator of the CHQ Mystic Heart Meditation Program. Kim...
Chautauqua Dance Circle-Anita Lin alin@chqdancecircle.org
Programmed by Unity of Chautauqua
The Chautauqua School of Art proudly welcomes Susan Lichtman as a member of our 2026 visiting faculty. Susan Lichtman will participate in the School’s Summer Lecture Series, sharing insights and practices with our artistic community. Susan Lichtman is a figurative painter of domestic spaces, working out of her home studio in southeastern Massachusetts. She graduated...
Alonzo King LINES Ballet is a celebrated contemporary ballet company that has been guided since 1982 by the unique artistic vision of award-winning choreographer Alonzo King. Since 1982, LINES Ballet has collaborated with noted composers, musicians and visual artists from around the world to create performances that alter the way we look at ballet today....
Starring Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, misunderstood because of her unusual green skin, and pop superstar Ariana Grande as Glinda who is gilded by privilege and ambition, director Jon M. Chu's adaptation of the broadway hit musical is "a wickedly good time at the movies." -Max Weiss, Baltimore Magazine "Smart, sweet, and sassy in equal measure,...
Chautauqua’s own award-winning singer-songwriter and recording artist Sarah James from Scottsdale, AZ, brings her trio to our late-night series at the Roe Green Theater. From Pittsburgh, PA, accompanying Sarah will be notable guitarist and musical artist Doug Edgell and Aaron Majiros on bass and keys. Sarah James has been a staple at 3Taps here at...
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