Chautauqua Institution

Women in Ministry
2025-07-16 12:15 (America/New_York) | Hall of Missions, Hall of Missions

Twelve Step Meeting
2025-07-16 12:15 | Hurlbut Marion Lawrance

Sustainable Business Forum: Protecting Our Waters
2025-07-16 12:15 | Smith Wilkes Hall, Smith Wilkes Hall
In a joint forum of the Chautauqua Climate Change Initiative and the Western NY Sustainable Business Roundtable, learn how Western New York businesses are thriving while adopting practices that help protect and restore our waters.

Organ Recitals
2025-07-16 12:15 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater

Louise Sheiner & Michael R. Strain
2025-07-16 10:45 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
As the Chautauqua Lecture Series continues its theme dedicated to “The Future of the American Experiment,” scholars Louise Scheiner and Michael R. Strain will approach this topic drawing on their joint expertise in economic policy. The program is the third in a five-part weeklong series presented at Chautauqua in partnership with the American Enterprise Institute and Brookings Institution, each featuring experts from both organizations.
Louise Sheiner is the Robert S. Kerr Senior Fellow in Economic Studies and policy director for the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at Brookings Institution, where she pursues research on federal and state and local fiscal policy, productivity measurement, demographic change, health policy, and other fiscal and macroeconomic issues.
At Brookings, she is also affiliated with the Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technology Initiative. Prior to her work at Brookings, she served as a senior economist in the Fiscal Analysis Section for the Research and Statistics Division with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. In her time at the Fed, she was also appointed deputy assistant secretary for economic policy at the U.S. Department of the Treasury (1996) and served as senior staff economist for the Council of Economic Advisers (from 1995 to 1996). Before joining the Fed, Sheiner was an economist at the Joint Committee on Taxation. Sheiner is chair of the Bureau of Economic Analysis Advisory Committee.
She received her Ph.D. and master’s degree in economics, as well as an undergraduate degree in biology, from Harvard University.
Michael R. Strain is the director of Economic Policy Studies and the Arthur F. Burns Scholar in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute, where his research and writing span labor markets, public finance, social policy, and macroeconomics. He oversees AEI’s work in economic policy, financial markets, international trade and finance, tax and budget policy, welfare economics, health care policy, and related areas.
Strein is the author of The American Dream Is Not Dead: (But Populism Could Kill It). He is the editor or coeditor of Preserving Links in the Pandemic: Policies to Maintain Worker-Firm Attachment in the OECD; What Has Happened to the American Working Class Since the Great Recession?; The U.S. Labor Market: Questions and Challenges for Public Policy; and Economic Freedom and Human Flourishing: Perspectives from Political Philosophy. He was a member of the AEI-Brookings Working Group on Poverty and Opportunity, which published in 2015 the report “Opportunity, Responsibility, and Security: A Consensus Plan for Reducing Poverty and Restoring the American Dream.”
Previously, Strain worked in the Center for Economic Studies at the U.S. Census Bureau and in the macroeconomics research group at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from Cornell University.

Service of Blessing and Healing
2025-07-16 10:15, 2025-07-15 10:15 | Randell Chapel, UCC Headquarters

Cultural Ethics Series- Leigh-Anne Hendrick
2025-07-16 09:30 | Hall of Philosophy, Hall of Philosophy
“Holocaust and Social Justice Education Program”

The Rev. Dr. Frank Yamada
2025-07-16 09:15, 2025-07-15 09:15 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Frank M. Yamada began as executive director of The Association of Theological Schools (ATS) in July 2017. He oversees the work of both the Association and the Commission on Accrediting. During his tenure, ATS has re-developed the Standards of Accreditation, received over $50 million in grant funding to support the future of theological schools and their leaders, successfully navigated the multiple programs of the Association through the global pandemic, and partnered with the Lilly Endowment through the Pathways for Tomorrow initiative, which has granted $209 million to ATS accredited schools and supporting organizations. This funding supports schools as they make the changes necessary to pursue more effective and sustainable futures.
Prior to ATS, he joined the McCormick faculty in 2008 as associate professor of Hebrew Bible and director of the Center for Asian American Ministries. In 2011, he was elected as McCormick’s tenth president—the first Asian American to lead a Presbyterian Church (USA) seminary. His tenure there was marked by increasing diversity in McCormick’s student body and creative engagement with the shifting realities of theological education. Yamada previously had taught Hebrew Bible/Old Testament for nine years at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. A biblical scholar, Yamada has authored and edited books and articles on cross-cultural and feminist hermeneutics. He had been an active member of the Society of Biblical Literature, where he served as a chair and as a steering committee member of the Asian American Biblical Hermeneutics Group, the Feminist Hermeneutics of the Bible Section, and the Committee for Underrepresented Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Profession. In addition, he was a member of the Ethnic Chinese Biblical Colloquium and the American Academy of Religion, and he was the co-chair for the Managing Board of the Asian Pacific Americans and Religion Research Initiative annual conference. A graduate of Southern California College (now Vanguard University), Yamada earned his MDiv and PhD from Princeton Theological Seminary. He is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and has written about and it is a sought-after speaker on the future of the church and theological education.

Chautauqua Prays for Peace though Compassion
2025-07-16 08:55, 2025-07-15 08:55 | Hall of Philosophy Grove

Catholic Mass
2025-07-16 08:45, 2025-07-15 08:45 | Chapel of the Good Shepherd, Chapel of the Good Shepherd

Movement and Meditation with Monte Thompson
2025-07-16 08:30 | Hall of Philosophy Grove
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 and joy.

Daily Word Meditation
2025-07-16 08:00, 2025-07-15 08:00 | Hall of Missions, Hall of Missions
(Programmed by Unity of Chautauqua)

Episcopal Holy Eucharist
2025-07-16 07:45, 2025-07-15 07:45 | Chapel of the Good Shepherd, Chapel of the Good Shepherd

CHQ Mystic Heart: Bhante Chipamong Chowdhury
2025-07-16 07:45, 2025-07-15 07:45 | Presbyterian Chapel
Originally from Chittagong Hill Tracts (Bangladesh), Bhante (Chipamong Chowdhury) is a contemplative teacher, researcher, storyteller and monastic activist. He became a monk at the age of 6 and received traditional Buddhist education, monastic training and meditation in Sri Lanka and Myanmar (1998-2006). He also studied at the University of Toronto Canada, Naropa University Colorado, Arizona State University, and was a Fellow at the Columbia University NY. He taught courses on Contemporary Buddhism Universities in Europe and US. He is a co-editor of the book: Human Dignity: Practices, Discourses, and Transformations. His essays and writings have appeared in the Harvard Divinity Bulletin, Journal of Contemporary Buddhism, Buddhist Studies Reviews, and Journal of Religion and Popular Culture, among other publications. Defining himself as a nomad monk or/ a global citizen, he travels extensively in North America, Europe and Asia, teaching nomad mindfulness, inner resources, active care, and human dignity. Bringing his experience as a Theravāda/nomad monk in South and Southeast Asia, besides daily mindfulness meditation, Bhante will be offering various aspects of Theravāda Dhamma reflecting on empathy, hopes, loves, forgiveness, healings, emotional intimacy, anger, and compassionate actions, among other topics.

MATERIALISTS
2025-07-15 20:30 | Chautauqua Cinema, Chautauqua Cinema
A young, ambitious New York City matchmaker (Dakota Johnson) finds herself torn between the perfect match (Pedro Pascal) and her imperfect ex (Chris Evans) in Past Lives writer/director Celine Song’s masterful new feature. “A romantic film for pragmatists, a pragmatic film for romantics. Opposites attract, and it’s a perfect match.” -Karl Quinn, Sydney Morning Herald “Sparkling, smart and sophisticated—finally, a rom-com for intelligent adults.” -Rafer Guzman, Newsday “Wonderful, in a wistful, elusive way.” -Stephanie Zacharek, TIME Magazine (R, 116m)

Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra: Romantic Elegance
2025-07-15 20:15 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Rossen Milanov, conductor
Sterling Elliott, cello
Experience an evening of breathtaking virtuosity and profound emotion as Avery Fisher Career Grant cellist Sterling Elliott brings Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations to life with dazzling elegance and charm. Then, be swept away by the dramatic intensity of Brahms’ Symphony No. 4, a masterpiece of deep passion and soaring melodies. Under the baton of music director Rossen Milanov, this unforgettable concert blends the brilliance of Tchaikovsky’s homage to the classical era with the rich, brooding power of Brahms’ final symphony.
Program:
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33
Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98

Chautauqua Theater Company presents Execution of Justice (Preview)
2025-07-15 19:30 | Bratton Theater, Bratton Theater
Written and Directed by Emily Mann
It’s 1978, and San Francisco is a divided city. The brutal murders of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk—the nation’s first openly gay elected official—shocked a nation. This gripping documentary play examines the trial of Dan White, the disgruntled former city supervisor whose reduced voluntary manslaughter conviction, rather than murder in the first degree, sparked outrage and introduced the infamous “Twinkie defense.” Ripped from the headlines, personal interviews, and court documents of the past but still resonating powerfully today, this play confronts themes of justice, prejudice, and privilege and grapples with the issues of gun violence and systemic homophobia. This contemporary classic challenges us to reflect on our identity as a nation.
Recommended for audiences ages 13 and older.

Labyrinth History and Meditation
2025-07-15 18:30 | Turner (Outside of Building)
Bring gate pass. Adjacent to Turner Community Center

THE PRESIDENT'S WIFE
2025-07-15 18:00 | Chautauqua Cinema, Chautauqua Cinema
Always the woman behind the man, Bernadette Chirac (Catherine Deneuve) has worked long in her husband Jacques’ shadow. When he attains the presidency of France in 1995, she fully claims the place in the political elite that she believes she deserves. “Deneuve is delicious in a role affectionately crafted for her.” -Thelma Adams, AARP Movies for Grownups “Deneuve doesn’t just play Bernadette…she rewrites the part history forgot.” -Rex Reed, Observer (NR, In French with subtitles. 92m)

Buffalo Day Speaker Series Tony Buttino
2025-07-15 16:45 | Smith Wilkes Hall, Smith Wilkes Hall

Play CHQ: Crafting by the Water
2025-07-15 16:00 | Miller Park, Miller Park
Play CHQ invites families to discover, create, and play together all season long! Enjoy a variety of engaging activities including games, crafts, STEM experiments, and more at pop-up locations throughout the Chautauqua grounds.
In case of inclement weather, all Play CHQ events will be relocated to Sheldon Hall of Education, Room 202.

Opera Company: Masterclass with Denyce Graves
2025-07-15 16:00 | McKnight Hall, McKnight Hall

Piano Program Faculty Recital: Logan Skelton, with guest pianist, Tian Tian: An Afternoon of Gershin for Two Pianos
2025-07-15 16:00 | Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall, Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall
Logan Skelton is a much sought-after pianist, teacher and composer whose work has received international critical acclaim. As a performer, Skelton has concertized widely in the United States, Europe and Asia and has been featured on many public radio and television stations including NPR’s Audiophile Audition, Performance Today, All Things Considered, and Morning Edition, as well as on radio in China and national television in Romania.
He has served on the faculties of Manhattan School of Music, Missouri State University, and is currently Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Piano and Director of Doctoral Studies in Piano Performance at the University of Michigan.
Pianist Tian Tian currently serves on the faculty of Oakland University as Associate Professor of Piano and Area Coordinator. She began her piano training at the age of four in her native China. Upon arriving in the United States, she studied with Logan Skelton and quickly began amassing top prizes at national and international competitions. These included 2nd prize at the MTNA Baldwin Junior High school Piano Competition, 2nd prize at the Cooper International Piano Competition (Oberlin), 1st prize at the Idyllwild Arts Academy Young Artist Competition, 2nd prize at the Missouri Southern International Competition, and 3rd place at the Eastman Young Artists International Piano Competition.
She continued her training at the Juilliard School, where she received B.M. and M.M. degrees under the tutelage of Robert McDonald. In the fall 2011 Tian completed a D.M.A. in Piano Performance and Literature with a minor in Chamber Music and Accompanying at the Eastman School of Music, where she was a student of (and served as teaching assistant to) Nelita True.
Tian has presented solo concerts across the US, Canada and China. She has also appeared in music festivals such as Piano Texas, the Gilmore Festival, and Summer Courses with Arie Vardi (Germany). Recent concerto appearances include the Oakland Symphony Orchestra, Windsor Symphony and the Idyllwild Chamber Orchestra. As an avid chamber musician, Tian has performed with the Juilliard Quartet and toured in the US, China, and Korea as a member of the Studzinsky Trio.

Heritage Lecture Series: Cynthia Patterson
2025-07-15 15:30 | Hall of Christ: Sanctuary
As part of the Oliver Archives Center’s 2025 Heritage Lecture Series, Cynthia Patterson will present “Owensboro, Kentucky and the Black Chautauqua Movement 1884-1924”.

Islam 101 Khalid Rehman and Sabeeha Rehman
2025-07-15 15:30 | Hurlbut Church sanctuary, Hurlbut Church sanctuary
Women and Family Life

Social Hour at Denominational Houses
2025-07-15 15:15 | Denominational Houses (Selected)
Social hour at the Baptist House, Catholic House, Christian Church, Everett Jewish Life Center, Episcopal Cottage, Lutheran House, Unitarian House and United Methodist House

WYNTON MARSALIS' ALL RISE
2025-07-15 15:00 | Chautauqua Cinema, Chautauqua Cinema
Special Program Event! Free Admission with Gate Pass! Recorded live at the Chautauqua Amphitheater in 2024 this is Wynton Marsalis’s massive jazz symphony All Rise performed in it’s entirety featuring the Music School Festival Orchestra and the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus. (NR, 115m)

Teddy raShaan (Reeves) with Becka A. Alper
2025-07-15 14:00 | Hall of Philosophy, Hall of Philosophy
Teddy raShaan (Reeves), Ph.D. is a multifaceted, award-winning producer, curator, educator, and storyteller. Currently, Teddy serves as the Curator of Religion at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in Washington, D.C. Through this work at the NMAAHC, teddy has created innovative projects that have highlighted the influence of digital technologies and media in capturing, preserving, and telling the stories of Black spiritual and religious life in the Americas.
Most recently, Teddy created and produced the NMAAHC’s first featured film, gOD-Talk, which explores the lives of seven Black Millennials (Buddhist, Christians, Atheist, Ifa, Muslim, and Spiritualist) and how they are reimaging faith in the 21st century. The film has received critical acclaim having been selected in 12 film festivals and won Best LGBTQ film at the Northern Virginia Film Festival. In 2018, teddy created, and executive produced the Museum first digital series under the same name, “gOD-Talk: A Black Millennials and Faith Conversation Series.” The series garner critical acclaim–having received more than 40 Telly Awards and five Shorty Awards for digital innovation, tackling pressing social issues, production, religion and spirituality media, art direction, and more.
In addition, Teddy curated the NMAAHC’s first born-digital religion exhibition, “Jesus’ Hair Like Wool: Black Messianic Representations in Art, History, and Media,” which explores– through a recently rediscovered sculpture of the Last Supper–the historic and contemporary role of Black messianic figures (Father Divine, Martin Luther King, Daddy Grace, Marcus Garvey, etc.) and portrayals in Black history, music, art, and culture. In addition, Teddy is the curator of the forthcoming exhibition, “‘They Are Killing Me Tonight:’ The Final Words Black and LatinX Men from the Death Chamber,” which explores the role of the death penalty and mass incarceration in the lives of Black and Brown men. Most recently, teddy founded Art Like ME Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to help empower Black and Brown boys and men cultivate emotional intelligence through art and culture. One of the signature programs of the organization is gifting framed visual art prints, by established artists, to boys (newborn to 12th grade) at no cost. Working alongside Dr. Yolanda Pierce, teddy helped to establish The Betsey Stockton Center for Black Church Studies at Princeton Theological Seminary. Teddy’s commitment to community led him to create The Reeves Group to help educational, cultural, and faithbased non-profit organizations, domestically and internationally, reach their fundraising and board goals. His work contributed to over $70 million in philanthropic revenue. Alongside these efforts, Teddy has also served as an English teacher at the Thacher School (Ojai, CA) and Providence Day School (Charlotte, NC), and as a teaching assistant at Princeton University Pace Center for Civic Engagement.
Teddy earned his B.A. from Hampton University, M.Div. from Princeton Seminary, and Ph.D. from Fordham University. Teddy hails from Winston-Salem, North Carolina and now calls Brooklyn, New York home with his wife, Briana Gibson Reeves.
Becka A. Alper is a Senior Researcher at Pew Research Center where she leads surveys exploring American religious identities, beliefs and practices, including the views and demographic profile of Jewish Americans and the religiously unaffiliated. Her work is instrumental in shaping the Center’s U.S. religion polls and offering insights into the role of religion in American public life. She has authored major reports analyzing America’s changing religious landscape, the experiences and views of Jewish Americans, spiritual beliefs and practices, what Americans know about religion, a new way of understanding religious identities in America, how religion intersects with Americans’ view on the environment, among many others. Becka holds a doctorate in sociology from Purdue University.

School of Music Open Recital
2025-07-15 13:00 | Fletcher Music Hall, Fletcher Music Hall

CHQ Dialogues
2025-07-15 12:30 | Presbyterian House, Presbyterian House

CHQ Mystic Heart: Bhante Chipamong Chowdhury
2025-07-15 12:30 | Hall of Missions, Hall of Missions

BTG Brownbag: Kenn Kaufman & Arthur Pearson
2025-07-15 12:15 | Smith Wilkes Hall, Smith Wilkes Hall
BTG Brownbag

Dance on Bestor with Afro-Andean Funk
2025-07-15 12:00 | Bestor Plaza, Bestor Plaza

Michael O'Hanlon & Kori Schake
2025-07-15 10:45 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Michael O’Hanlon and Kori Schake are two of the nation’s leading experts in American defense strategy and foreign policy. The pair will present in tandem, building on the Chautauqua Lecture Series theme of “The Future of the American Experiment,” with an examination of world affairs and the global order through the lenses of U.S. defense and diplomacy. The program is the second in a five-part weeklong series presented at Chautauqua in partnership with the American Enterprise Institute and Brookings Institution, each featuring experts from both organizations.
Michael O’Hanlon is the inaugural holder of the Philip H. Knight Chair in Defense and Strategy and director of research in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution, where he specializes in U.S. defense strategy and budgets, the use of military force, and American national security policy. He is a senior fellow and directs the Strobe Talbott Center on Security, Strategy, and Technology, and serves as co-director of the Africa Security Initiative. An adjunct professor at Georgetown University and Columbia University and a member of the Pentagon’s Defense Policy Board, he was also a member of the external advisory board at the Central Intelligence Agency from 2011 to 2012.
O’Hanlon’s most recent book is Military History for the Modern Strategist: America’s Major Wars since 1861; other works include The Art of War in an Age of Peace: U.S. Grand Strategy and Resolute Restraint, Defense 101: Understanding the Military of Today and Tomorrow, and The Senkaku Paradox: Risking Great Power War over Limited Stakes.
O’Hanlon was an analyst at the Congressional Budget Office from 1989 to 1994, where he won the Director’s Award in 1992. His doctorate from Princeton University is in public and international affairs, where he was awarded a National Science Foundation fellowship. His bachelor’s and master’s degrees, also from Princeton, are in the physical sciences. He served as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Democratic Republic of Congo from 1982 to 1984, where he taught college and high school physics in French.
Kori Schake is a senior fellow and the director of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, where her research areas include national security strategy; NATO; alliances and U.S.-led international order; and threats to the liberal international order.
Before joining AEI, Schake was the deputy director-general of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. She has had a distinguished career in government, working at the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the National Security Council at the White House. She has also taught at King’s College, Stanford, West Point, Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, National Defense University, and the University of Maryland, and served as senior policy adviser to the McCain-Palin campaign in 2008.
Schake is the author of five books, including America vs the West: Can the Liberal World Order Be Preserved?; Safe Passage: The Transition from British to American Hegemony; State of Disrepair: Fixing the Culture and Practices of the State Department; and Managing American Hegemony: Essays on Power in a Time of Dominance. She is also the coeditor, along with former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, of Warriors & Citizens: American Views of Our Military.
Schake holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in government and politics from the University of Maryland, as well as an MPM from the University of Maryland School of Public Policy. She received her bachelor’s degree in international relations from Stanford University.

Buffalo Day
2025-07-15 07:00
Buffalo Day 2025
Explore locally and come to Chautauqua Institution on Buffalo Day. Residents of Buffalo have free admission and parking* all day. Our Buffalo Day includes access to all events in the Amphitheater and Hall of Philosophy that day, beaches, and so much more!
Please bring proof of residency for entry. Youth 12 and under are always free at Chautauqua!
July 15
9:15 a.m. (Amphitheater) Morning Worship: The Rev Dr. Frank Yamanda
10:45 a.m. (Amphitheater) Morning Lecture: Michael O’Hanlon & Kori Schake
12:30 pm (Hall of Christ) Buffalo Day – Erie Canal 200 A Lifelong Learning Experience
2 p.m. (Hall of Philosophy) Teddy raShaan (Reeves) with Becka A. Alper
2:15 pm (Smith Library) Buffalo Day Talk
4:45 p.m. (Smith Wilkes) Buffalo Day Speakers –
Creating Reading Rainbow: The Untold Story of a Beloved Children’s Series
Authors Tony Buttino, Sr., Barbara Irwin and Pam Johnson
8:15 p.m. Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra: Romantic Elegance
Patrons from the Buffalo region zip codes 14201 through 14280 are admitted free to Chautauqua 7 a.m. –11:59 p.m. Order tickets at the Chautauqua Ticket Office.
*Parking is free when tickets are ordered in advance (before 7/15) for Buffalo Day
