Venerable Jissai Prince-Cherry began practicing Zen in 1994. Since then, she has maintained a daily personal practice and regularly participates in group sittings, intensive Zen meditation retreats, and periods of residential training including at a Zen monastery in Japan. She works closely with her teacher, Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede, successor to Roshi Philip Kapleau, the founder...
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 Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde serves as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. In this role, she serves as spiritual leader for the congregations and Episcopal schools in the District of Columbia and four Maryland counties that comprise the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. The first woman elected to this position, she also serves...
Two of America’s most respected television journalists help launch Chautauqua’s 2026 Summer Assembly and a week on “Icons and Instigators: Women Who Change the World” with a conversation based on their careers, and in particular new books by each that lift up and celebrate the strength, stories and bonds of women today as well as...
Diana Butler Bass, Ph.D., is an award-winning author, popular speaker, inspiring preacher, and commentator on religion and contemporary spirituality. Her latest book, A Beautiful Year, won the 2026 Wilbur Prize, her unprecedented third. Diana’s passion is sharing great ideas to change lives and the world—from informing the public about spiritual trends, challenging conventional narratives about...
"The Quran and What is Says About Other Faiths"
Launched in 2012 by Cleveland Orchestra principal clarinet emeritus Franklin Cohen and daughter Diana Cohen, concertmaster of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, ChamberFest Cleveland burst onto the scene with a Big Bang! Steeped in a lifetime of participation in music festivals, the Cohens dreamt of bringing a world-class chamber music festival to the Cleveland community. ChamberFest...
Mike Thornton, jazz vocalist of grit and sophistication, takes center stage with The Midnight Quartet in a performance charged with high-octane energy and deep blues soul. Blending hard-swinging standards with electrifying improvisation, Thornton’s commanding voice rides effortlessly over the band’s tight, driving rhythms. Each tune ignites with hot, explosive solos, delivering a night where smoky...
Venerable Jissai Prince-Cherry began practicing Zen in 1994. Since then, she has maintained a daily personal practice and regularly participates in group sittings, intensive Zen meditation retreats, and periods of residential training including at a Zen monastery in Japan. She works closely with her teacher, Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede, successor to Roshi Philip Kapleau, the founder...
The Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde serves as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. In this role, she serves as spiritual leader for the congregations and Episcopal schools in the District of Columbia and four Maryland counties that comprise the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. The first woman elected to this position, she also serves...
Chautauqua Science Group weekly lecture
Alyse Nelson is president and CEO of Vital Voices Global Partnership. As the co-founder, she has been with the organization for more than 28 years, also serving as vice president and senior director of programs before assuming her current role in 2009. Under Nelson's leadership, Vital Voices has directly served nearly 50,000 women leaders across...
Chautauqua Bird, Tree & Garden Club lunchtime lecture series Gretchen Goldman is an American environmental scientist, policy advocate, and the president of the Union of Concerned Scientists. In 2024 she was the climate change research and technology director at the U.S. Department of Transportation and served between July 2021 and 2023 as the assistant director...
Venerable Jissai Prince-Cherry began practicing Zen in 1994. Since then, she has maintained a daily personal practice and regularly participates in group sittings, intensive Zen meditation retreats, and periods of residential training including at a Zen monastery in Japan. She works closely with her teacher, Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede, successor to Roshi Philip Kapleau, the founder...
Diana Butler Bass kicks off the 2026 Interfaith Lecture Series, beginning the Summer Assembly season with a solo lecture on Monday, June 29, 2026. The following day, on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, Bass will return to the Hall of Philosophy for a conversation with Bishop Miriann Edgar Budde, the Chaplain during Week One, "Women of...
Now in his third decade of touring worldwide, American pianist Jon Nakamatsu continues to draw critical and public acclaim for his intensity, elegance and electrifying solo, concerto and chamber music performances. Catapulted to international attention in 1997 as the Gold Medalist of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition—the only American to achieve this distinction since...
When St. Louis native vocalist, composer, educator Alicia Olatuja sings, the world listens. Her aural artistry is a wondrous weave of jazz, blues, gospel, classical, pop and Afropop musical genres. Olatuja’s embrace of those sonic stylings have enabled her to work with a wide variety of musicians - from jazz superstars Chris Botti, Christian McBride...
Venerable Jissai Prince-Cherry began practicing Zen in 1994. Since then, she has maintained a daily personal practice and regularly participates in group sittings, intensive Zen meditation retreats, and periods of residential training including at a Zen monastery in Japan. She works closely with her teacher, Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede, successor to Roshi Philip Kapleau, the founder...
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 Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde serves as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. In this role, she serves as spiritual leader for the congregations and Episcopal schools in the District of Columbia and four Maryland counties that comprise the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. The first woman elected to this position, she also serves...
Continuing a weeklong celebration of “Icons and Instigators: Women Who Change History,” Chautauqua welcomes two Olympic gold medalists for a conversation on the state of women’s sports, and the outlook for emerging generations of women and girls in amateur and professional athletics. Kerri Walsh Jennings is a five-time Olympian, three-time gold medalist, and one of...
Molly Patrick is an organist originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her diverse career has brought her to many different places, including six years in Anchorage, Alaska where she was the music director for an Episcopal Church, a violist in the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra and an adjunct faculty member at the University of Alaska. She has performed...
Come learn about the latest research and actions addressing harmful algae bloom and other environmental issues in Chautauqua Lake. Dr. Allison Hrycik is a research scientist for the Jefferson Project and the Darrin Freshwater Institute at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Allison researches harmful algal blooms and algae ecology and is involved in sampling efforts on Chautauqua...
Susannah Heschel serves as the Eli M. Black Distinguished Professor and chair of Jewish studies at Dartmouth College and the Gerard Weinstock Visiting Professor of Jewish Studies at Harvard University. Heschel’s scholarship focuses on Jewish thought in Germany during the 19th and 20th centuries, including the history of antisemitism. Her books include Abraham Geiger and the Jewish Jesus; The Aryan Jesus: Christian Theologians...
"Shia-Sunni Sects and Religious Hierarchy"
Join the Raleigh Ringers for an engaging session that explores the artistry, teamwork, and joy behind one of the world’s premier handbell ensembles. Through discussion and live demonstration, discover how handbells create a powerful, collective musical experience that connects performers and listeners alike.
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...
For 40 years, the Guerrilla Girls are anonymous artist activists who use disruptive headlines, outrageous visuals and killer statistics to expose gender and ethnic bias and corruption in art, film, politics and pop culture. They believe in an intersectional feminism that fights for human rights for all people of all genders. They work to undermine...
The Raleigh Ringers return to Chautauqua for another dazzling performance by one of America’s premier handbell ensembles. Renowned for their virtuosity and showmanship, The Raleigh Ringers bring an extraordinary range of musical styles to life—from classical masterpieces to rock favorites—on hundreds of bronze bells. Their precision, artistry, and infectious energy transform handbell ringing into a...
Venerable Jissai Prince-Cherry began practicing Zen in 1994. Since then, she has maintained a daily personal practice and regularly participates in group sittings, intensive Zen meditation retreats, and periods of residential training including at a Zen monastery in Japan. She works closely with her teacher, Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede, successor to Roshi Philip Kapleau, the founder...