JD Stillwater: One Song: The Science of Oneness
2026-07-14 09:15 (America/New_York) | Hurlbut Church sanctuary, Hurlbut Church sanctuary
Chautauqua Science Group Weekly Lecture

James C. Capretta and Matthew Fiedler
2026-07-14 10:45 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
The Chautauqua Lecture Series continues its theme dedicated to “The 2026 Election: What’s at Stake?” with scholars James Capretta and Matthew Fiedler in conversation, sharing their expertise on the state of health care and health policy in the United States. 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.
James C. Capretta is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute where he studies and comments on U.S. health care, entitlement, and fiscal policy. He also serves as a senior adviser to the Bipartisan Policy Center. He previously held senior staff positions at the Office of Management and Budget and in Congress, primarily at the Senate Budget Committee. He is the author of US Health Policy and Market Reforms: An Introduction, published by AEI Press in 2022, along with numerous other book chapters, papers, and articles.
Matthew Fiedler is the Joseph A. Pechman Senior Fellow in Economic Studies and a senior fellow with the Center on Health Policy at Brookings. His research examines a range of topics in health care economics and health care policy. Prior to joining the Brookings Institution in January 2017, Fiedler served as Chief Economist for the Council of Economic Advisers, where he oversaw the Council’s work on health care policy, including implementation of the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance and health care payment reforms. Fiedler holds a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University and a B.A. in mathematics and economics from Swarthmore College.

Bob Jeffrey: Architecture of the 2026 House and Garden Tour
2026-07-14 12:30 | Smith Wilkes Hall, Smith Wilkes Hall
Bird, Tree & Garden Club lunchtime lecture series

School of Music Piano Faculty Recital: Ilya Itin
2026-07-14 16:00 | Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall, Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall
Audiences throughout the world revere Ilya Itin’s unique artistry. Playing to sold out houses in Japan and in the US, he is known for his extraordinary range, power, quality of sound, and command of the piano. His Princeton recital was singled out by the Philadelphia Inquirer as a “top ten musical moment of the year” and The New York Times critic described him as “…a brilliantly insightful pianist who offered a superb recital.” Since capturing the gold medal, BBC Audience Award, and Contemporary Music Prize at the 1996 Leeds International Piano Competition, Itin has performed throughout the world bringing his powerful musical imagination and mastery to wide ranging repertoire.

Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra: An Evening of Brahms
2026-07-14 20:00 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Rossen Milanov, conductor
Sharon Roffman, violin
Jolyon Pegis, cello
An Evening of Brahms brings together two of the composer’s most expressive works, pairing the lyrical intimacy of the Double Concerto with the concentrated power of Symphony No. 3. Written late in Brahms’s career, the Double Concerto unfolds as a rich conversation between violin and cello, as CSO concertmaster Sharon Roffman and principal cellist Jolyon Pegis share the spotlight. The program concludes with Brahms’s Third Symphony, a work of striking emotional depth. Together, these works reveal Brahms at his most personal and compelling.
Program:
Brahms Concerto for Violin and Cello
Brahms Symphony No. 3

Michael Chan
2026-07-15 09:15 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Dr. Michael Chan joined the Concordia College community in June 2022 as the executive director for faith and learning. Prior to that, he was associate professor of Old Testament at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. He joined Luther Seminary after completing his Ph.D. at Emory University and a year of research and teaching at the University of Helsinki. He is a graduate of Luther Seminary (M.A. in biblical theology) and Pacific Lutheran University (B.A. in elementary education). Dr. Chan provides leadership and support for the Campus Ministry team; the Dovre Center for Faith and Learning; and the Lorentzsen Center for Faith and Work.

Ben Harris and James Pethokoukis
2026-07-15 10:45 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
The Chautauqua Lecture Series continues a weeklong exploration of “The 2026 Election: What’s at Stake?” with scholars Ben Harris and James Pethokoukis, sharing their expertise on the state of the economy and economic policy in the United States. 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.
Ben Harris is the vice president and director of Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution, where he also holds the Bruce and Virginia MacLaury Chair. As a scholar, Harris focuses on public finance and macroeconomics, and is widely published in academic journals, policy outlets and the popular press — including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post — and is a regular guest on cable television. With Martin Baily, he is the author of the book The Retirement Challenge: What’s Wrong with America’s System and a Sensible Way to Fix It.
Harris has extensive experience in senior public sector roles. Most recently, he was assistant secretary for economic policy and chief economist at the Treasury Department, chief economist and economic adviser to the Vice President of the United States, and a senior economist with the Council of Economic Advisers during the Obama administration. Harris was also the senior economist with the U.S. House of Representatives Budget Committee.
In addition to his public service, Harris has worked extensively in think tanks, academia and the private sector. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from George Washington University, a Master’s degree in economics from Cornell University, a master’s degree in quantitative methods from Columbia University, and a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University. He was also a Fulbright Scholar to Namibia in 2000. For his Treasury Department service, Harris was awarded the prestigious Alexander Hamilton Award by Secretary Janet Yellen.
James Pethokoukis is a senior fellow and the DeWitt Wallace Chair at the American Enterprise Institute, where he analyzes U.S. economic policy, writes and edits the “AEIdeas” blog, and hosts AEI’s “Political Economy” podcast. He is also a contributor to CNBC and writes the “Faster, Please!” newsletter on Substack. Before joining AEI, Pethokoukis was the Washington columnist for “Breakingviews,” the opinion and commentary wing of Thomson Reuters. Earlier, he was the business editor and economics columnist for U.S. News & World Report.
Pethokoukis is the author of The Conservative Futurist: How to Create the Sci-Fi World We Were Promised. He has also written for many publications, including The Atlantic, Commentary, Financial Times, Investor’s Business Daily, National Review, the New York Post, The New York Times, USA Today and The Week. His numerous broadcast appearances include CNBC, CNN, Fox Business, Fox News, MSNBC, and PBS.
A graduate of Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism, Pethokoukis is a 2002 Jeopardy! champion.

Imagining a Future Beyond Climate Change: Lessons from the Haitian Revolution, with Sony Ton-Aime
2026-07-15 12:30 | Smith Wilkes Hall, Smith Wilkes Hall
Sony Ton-Aime

Terrence Johnson
2026-07-15 14:00 | Hall of Philosophy, Hall of Philosophy
Terrence L. Johnson is Charles G. Adams Professor of African American Religious Studies, professor of African and African American studies, and director of religion and public life at Harvard Divinity School. He is also a faculty associate of the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard and a member of the Corporation at Haverford College. His research interests include African American political thought, ethics, American religions and the role of religion in public life. Johnson’s interdisciplinary research agenda is historical, critical and constructive. He weaves together African American religions, political theory and American history to paint broad conceptual schemes for imagining religion, democracy, ethics, liberalism, justice and freedom.
In 2024-25, he was an inaugural Steven M. Polan Fellow in constitutional law and history at the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan law and policy institute. The Polan Fellows program provides a platform for debates on the meaning and promise of the U.S. constitution.
He is the co-author of Blacks and Jews in America: An Invitation to Dialogue, winner of the 2023 Outstanding Book award by the Association for Ethnic Studies; We Testify with Our Lives: How Religion Transformed Radical Thought from Black Power to Black Lives Matter; and Tragic Soul-Life: W.E.B. Du Bois and the Moral Crisis Facing American Democracy. He also serves as co-editor of the Duke University Press Series “Religious Cultures of African and African Diaspora People.” He is currently completing a manuscript entitled Torn Asunder: Race and Religion in the Shadow of Law and Justice, which is under contract with Columbia University Press. He is also co-writing a book on ethics and law with M. Cathleen Kaveny tentatively entitled Christian Ethics and the Trump Court.
A graduate of Morehouse College, Johnson received his M.Div. from Harvard Divinity School and Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Brown University.

UU Cultural Ethics Series: Dr. Elías Ortega, President and Professor of Religion, Ethics, and Leadership, Meadville Lombard Theological School
2026-07-15 15:30 | Hall of Philosophy, Hall of Philosophy

CVA Lecture Series: Stephanie Pierce, School of Art Faculty
2026-07-15 18:30 | Hultquist 101, Hultquist 101
The Chautauqua School of Art proudly welcomes Stephanie Pierce as a member of our 2026 visiting faculty. Stephanie Pierce will participate in the School’s Summer Lecture Series, sharing insights and practices with our artistic community.
Stephanie Pierce’s paintings explore relationships between light, time, and perception as it is reconsidered over time. Her work has been exhibited at The Henry Art Gallery, Seattle; The Staten Island Museum, NY; and Asheville Art Museum, NC. Her work is represented by Jupiter Contemporary in New York City and Miami, Alpha Gallery in Boston, and Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects in NYC. Stephanie received a Peter S. Reed Foundation Grant in 2018 and a Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant in 2014. Her work has been published in the New Yorker Magazine, Harper’s Magazine, and is included in the collections of William Dreyfus, The Boston Public Library, and The Museum of Fine Arts Boston among others. Stephanie is an Associate Professor of Painting at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC. She lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

Unity's Positive Path for Spiritual Living
2026-07-15 18:30, 2026-07-22 18:30, 2026-07-29 18:30, 2026-08-05 18:30, 2026-08-12 18:30, 2026-08-19 18:30, 2026-08-26 18:30 | Turner Conference Room, Turner Conference Room
Programmed by Unity of Chautauqua

Alexander Gavrylyuk, piano
2026-07-15 20:00 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
A stunningly virtuosic pianist, Alexander is internationally recognised for his electrifying and poetic performances. His performance of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.3 at the BBC Proms was described as “revelatory” by The Times and “electrifying” by Limelight. Alexander was Artist-in-Residence at Wigmore Hall for the 23/24 season.
Highlights of the 2025-26 season include debuts with Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Tonkünstler Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Opera North orchestra and i Solisti di Pavia. Alexander will also return to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Auckland Philharmonia. Recent highlights also include Hamburger Symphoniker, Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liege, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Estonian National Symphony, Phil Zuid, Enescu Philharmonic and Taiwan National Symphony. This season also sees returns to Baerum Kulturhaus and the Piano Masters Series in Stoke-on-Trent as a recital artist along with his recital debut at Theater Heerlen.
Alexander collaborates regularly with conductors including Rafael Payer, Thomas Sondergard, Kirill Karabit, Edward Gardner, Sir Donald Runnicles, Juraj Valcuha and Gustavo Gimeno.
Born in Ukraine in 1984 and holding Australian citizenship, Alexander began his piano studies at the age of seven and gave his first concerto performance when he was nine years old. At the age of 13, Alexander moved to Sydney where he lived until 2006. He won First Prize and Gold Medal at the Horowitz International Piano Competition (1999), First Prize at the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition (2000), and Gold Medal at the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Masters Competition (2005).
As a recitalist Alexander has performed at the Musikverein in Vienna, Tonhalle Zurich, Victoria Hall Geneva, Southbank Centre’s International Piano Series, Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw Master Pianists Series, Suntory Hall, Tokyo Opera City Hall, Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, Cologne Philharmonie, Tokyo City Concert Hall, San Francisco, City Recital Hall in Sydney and Melbourne Recital Centre. Gavrylyuk has appeared at many of the world’s foremost festivals, including the Hollywood Bowl, Bravo! Vail Colorado, Mostly Mozart, the Ruhr Festival and the Kissinger Sommer International Music Festival. Alexander is currently Artist in Residence at Chautauqua Institution.

Michael Chan
2026-07-16 09:15 | Hall of Philosophy, Hall of Philosophy

E.J. Dionne, Jr. and Christine Emba
2026-07-16 10:45 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Leading the fourth installment of a five-part weeklong deep dive into “The 2026 Election: What’s at Stake?,” renowned scholars E.J. Dionne, Jr. and Christine Emba join in conversation for a deeper look into the role of culture in American public and political life, particularly addressing the generational differences and divides that show up in these deeply intertwined components of our national dialogue. The program is presented at Chautauqua in partnership with the American Enterprise Institute and Brookings Institution, each featuring experts from both organizations.
Later in the day at 2:00 p.m., Dionne will be speaking at the Hall of Philosophy for the Interfaith Lecture Series.
E.J. Dionne, Jr. is a senior fellow and the W. Averell Harriman Chair in American Governance in the Governance Studies program at Brookings. He is also a Distinguished University Professor in the Foundations of Democracy and Culture at Georgetown University, affiliated with the McCourt School of Public Policy, and a contributing columnist to The New York Times.
Dionne began his career with The New York Times, reporting on state and local government, national politics, and from around the world, including stints in Paris, Rome, and Beirut. In 1990, Dionne joined The Washington Post as a reporter covering national politics, and was a columnist for The Post from 1993 to 2025, when he became a Times contributor. He was an NPR commentator for two decades.
His 1991 best-selling book, Why Americans Hate Politics, won The Los Angeles Times book prize, and was a National Book Award nominee. He is the author and co-author of eight other books, editor and co-editor of six volumes published by the Brookings Institution Press and co-editor of a collection of the speeches made by Barack Obama.
Dionne has received numerous awards, including the American Political Science Association’s Carey McWilliams Award, Volunteers of America Empathy Award, the National Human Services Assembly’s Award for Excellence by a Member of the Media and the Sidney Hillman Foundation’s Hillman Award for Career Achievement. He has been named among the 25 most influential Washington journalists by the National Journal and among the capital city’s top 50 journalists by the Washingtonian magazine. He was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Dionne grew up in Fall River, Mass. He graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. from Harvard University and received his doctorate from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.
Christine Emba is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where her work focuses on gender and sexuality, feminism, masculinity, youth culture and social norms. She is concurrently a contributing writer at The New York Times and a senior fellow at the Georgetown University Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life.
Emba is a contributing editor at Comment Magazine, a board member at the American Institute for Boys and Men and an editor-at-large at Wisdom of Crowds. She is the author of Rethinking Sex: A Provocation.
Before joining AEI, Emba was a staff writer at The Atlantic, a columnist and editor at The Washington Post, a Hilton Kramer Fellow in Criticism at The New Criterion and a deputy editor at The Economist Intelligence Unit.
Emba has a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University. She was named one of the world’s top-50 thinkers by Prospect Magazine in 2022 and received the National Press Club’s Nell Minow Award for Cultural Criticism in 2024.

CTC Theater Chats
2026-07-16 12:15 | Women’s Club
Theater Chats (formerly known as Brown Bags)
On selected Thursdays at 12:15 p.m., bring lunch to Smith Wilkes Hall and join special guests, including actors, designers, playwrights and more, for a look at our upcoming productions and discussions on the craft of theater-making. Free and open to the public.

E.J. Dionne, Jr.
2026-07-16 14:00 | Hall of Philosophy, Hall of Philosophy
Dionne is a senior fellow and the W. Averell Harriman Chair in American Governance in the Governance Studies program at Brookings. He is also a Distinguished University Professor in the Foundations of Democracy and Culture at Georgetown University, affiliated with the McCourt School of Public Policy, and a contributing columnist to The New York Times.
Dionne began his career with The New York Times, reporting on state and local government, national politics, and from around the world, including stints in Paris, Rome, and Beirut. In 1990, Dionne joined The Washington Post as a reporter covering national politics, and was a columnist for The Post from 1993 to 2025, when he became a Times contributor. He was an NPR commentator for two decades.
His 1991 best-selling book, Why Americans Hate Politics, won The Los Angeles Times book prize, and was a National Book Award nominee. He is the author and co-author of eight other books, editor and co-editor of six volumes published by the Brookings Institution Press and co-editor of a collection of the speeches made by Barack Obama.
Dionne has received numerous awards, including the American Political Science Association’s Carey McWilliams Award, Volunteers of America Empathy Award, the National Human Services Assembly’s Award for Excellence by a Member of the Media and the Sidney Hillman Foundation’s Hillman Award for Career Achievement. He has been named among the 25 most influential Washington journalists by the National Journal and among the capital city’s top 50 journalists by the Washingtonian magazine. He was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Dionne grew up in Fall River, Mass. He graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. from Harvard University and received his doctorate from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.
He will also be speaking at the 10:45 a.m. Chautauqua Lecture Series platform earlier the same day.

Chautauqua Opera Company Presents: An Afternoon of Song
2026-07-16 15:15, 2026-07-23 15:15 | Fletcher Music Hall, Fletcher Music Hall
Join us for an afternoon of song, featuring our 2026 Young Artists.

Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra with Mak Grgic, guitar
2026-07-16 20:00 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Rossen Milanov, conductor
Mak Grgic, guitar
The Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra is thrilled to welcome guitarist Mak Grgic in an evening of symphonic storytelling. Stravinsky’s “Song of the Nightengale” opens the program with visceral motion, bringing to life the enchanting world of Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tale. Grgic then takes the stage in a powerful work that explores the deepest personal struggles of an artist. The evening concludes with the charm of Poulenc’s “Les Biches” Suite, brimming with wit and Parisian flair.
Program:
Stravinsky: Song of the Nightingale
Abels: Borders
Poulence: Suite from “Les Biches”

Chautauqua County Day
2026-07-17 07:00 | Chautauqua Institution
Explore locally and come to Chautauqua Institution on Chautauqua County Day. Residents of Chautauqua County have free admission and parking from 7 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Our Chautauqua County 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!
Chautauqua County Day: Featured Events
9:15 a.m. (Hall of Philosophy) Morning Worship: Ecumenical Communion Service
10:45 a.m. (Amphitheater) Morning Lecture: Kevin R. Kosar and Kathryn Dunn Tenpas (Brookings Institution)
2 p.m. (Hall of Philosophy) CLSC Author Presentation: Maria Arana (2026 Chautauqua County Book Read Selection)
3:30 p.m. (Fletcher) School of Music Open Recital
3:30 p.m. (Hall of Christ) Department of Religion: Islam 101 Khalid and Sabeeha Rehman
8:00 p.m. (Amphitheater) Evening Program: Harry Connick Jr. **Admission to this event requires purchase of a separate ticket, available at tickets.chq.org
Tickets are available starting June 1, 2026 by calling the Chautauqua Institution Ticket Office at 716-357-6250.
Parking is complimentary for Chautauqua County Day when tickets are purchased in advance—online, by phone, or in person before July 17. On the day of the event, a credit card will be required for parking lot entry. Guests wishing to pay with cash should proceed to the Main Gate before entering the parking lot.

Ecumenical Communion Service
2026-07-17 09:15 | Hall of Philosophy, Hall of Philosophy

Kevin R. Kosar and Kathryn Dunn Tenpas
2026-07-17 10:45 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Kevin R. Kosar and Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, two of the nation’s leading experts in the workings of the U.S. federal government, governance, and interbranch relations, will present in tandem on the state of the federal government, federalism and U.S. elections. The program concludes the Chautauqua Lecture Series weeklong exploration of “The 2026 Election: What’s at Stake?,” a five-part series at Chautauqua in partnership with the American Enterprise Institute and Brookings Institution, with each program featuring experts from both organizations.
Kathryn Dunn Tenpas is a visiting fellow in Governance Studies and director of the Initiative on Improving Interbranch Relations and Government. She also serves as a practitioner senior fellow at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center and on the Advisory Board of the White House Transition Project. Tenpas’ research addresses the intersection between the presidency and politics, focusing on presidential personnel, Senate-confirmed appointments, transitions, re-election campaigns and trends in presidential travel and polling. Her studies of White House staffing include an original database that tracks turnover rates among senior staffers. In addition, she has written or coauthored pieces on key units within the White House (Office of Political Affairs, Staff Secretary, Counsel’s Office, Faith-based and Community Initiatives and the Office of the First Lady).
Tenpas is author of Presidents as Candidates: Inside the White House for the Presidential Campaign, and has published articles, book chapters, blog posts, op-eds and papers on a variety of presidency-related topics. Her insights on the presidency have been quoted in major newspapers, and she has appeared on numerous television and radio outlets in the United States and abroad.
Tenpas’ academic positions have included the directorship of the University of Pennsylvania’s Washington Semester Program, senior fellow at the Weidenbaum Center at Washington University in St. Louis, and an associate professorship in the Department of Government and International Affairs at the University of South Florida. While there, she won an undergraduate teaching award, directed the Political Science Honors Program and the Washington, D.C. internship program. Tenpas earned her bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University in 1985, and her master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Virginia.
Kevin R. Kosar is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he studies the U.S. Congress, the administrative state, American politics, election reform, and the U.S. Postal Service. He edits UnderstandingCongress.org and hosts the “Understanding Congress” podcast. Before joining AEI, Kosar was at the R Street Institute, where he served as vice president of policy, vice president of research partnerships, and senior fellow and director of the Governance Project. He also cofounded the Legislative Branch Capacity Working Group, a transpartisan project to strengthen the legislative branch.
Earlier, Kosar spent more than a decade working for the Congressional Research Service, where he focused on a wide range of public administration issues. He has also taught public policy at New York University and lectured on public administration at Metropolitan College of New York. His books include Congress Overwhelmed: The Decline in Congressional Capacity and Prospects for Reform; Unleashing Opportunity: Policy Reforms for an Accountable Administrative State; Moonshine: A Global History; Ronald Reagan and Education Policy; Whiskey: A Global History; Failing Grades: The Federal Politics of Education Standards; and Bridging the Gap: Higher Education and Career-Centered Welfare Reform. He also wrote the prefaces to the recently republished The Unheavenly City Revisited and Government Project by Edward C. Banfield.
Kosar has testified before Congress and has been widely published in scholarly journals; his articles and opinion pieces have appeared in a number of popular press outlets and he has made a number of broadcast appearances. He earned a doctorate and a master’s in politics from New York University and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Ohio State University.

Marie Arana
2026-07-17 14:00 | Hall of Philosophy, Hall of Philosophy
Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle — LatinoLand: A Portrait of America’s Largest and Least Understood Minority by Marie Arana
LatinoLand is an exceptional, all-encompassing overview of Hispanic America based on personal interviews, deep research, and Marie Arana’s life experience as a Latina. At present, Latinos comprise twenty percent of the US population, a number that is growing. By 2050, census reports project that one in every three Americans will claim Latino heritage.
But Latinos are not a monolith. They do not represent a single group. The largest groups are Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Salvadorans, and Cubans. Each has a different cultural and political background. As LatinoLand shows, Latinos were some of the earliest immigrants to what is now the US—some of them arriving in the 1500s. They are racially diverse—a random infusion of white, Black, indigenous, and Asian. Once overwhelmingly Catholic, they are becoming increasingly Protestant and Evangelical. They range from domestic workers and day laborers to successful artists, corporate CEOs, and US senators. Formerly solidly Democratic, they now vote Republican in growing numbers. They are as culturally varied as any immigrants from Europe or Asia.
Marie Arana draws on her own experience as the daughter of an American mother and Peruvian father who came to the US at age nine, straddling two worlds, as many Latinos do. “Thorough, accessible, and necessary” (Ms. magazine), LatinoLand unabashedly celebrates Latino resilience and character and shows us why we must understand the fastest-growing minority in America.
Marie Arana was born in Lima, Peru. She is the author of the memoir American Chica, a finalist for the National Book Award; two novels, Cellophane and Lima Nights; the prizewinning biography Bolivar; Silver, Sword, and Stone, a narrative history of Latin America; The Writing Life, a collection from her well-known column for The Washington Post; and LatinoLand, an exceptional, all-encompassing overview of Hispanic Americans. She is the inaugural Literary Director of the Library of Congress and lives in Washington, DC, and Lima, Peru.

Kabbalat Shabbat Service
2026-07-17 17:00, 2026-07-24 17:00, 2026-07-31 17:00, 2026-08-07 17:00, 2026-08-14 17:00, 2026-08-21 17:00, 2026-08-28 17:00 | Miller Park, Miller Park

Harry Connick Jr.
2026-07-17 20:00 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
A consummate performer, Harry Connick, Jr. has exemplified excellence in the entertainment world for decades—be it music, film, television or Broadway. His prodigious talent has earned him Grammy, Emmy and Tony recognition, plus album sales in excess of 30 million and sold-out concerts around the world.
Backed by his stellar band, this special concert will showcase the full breadth of Connick’s artistry—from jazz standards and New Orleans classics to his masterful originals and career-defining hits.

Chautauqua Opera Conservatory: Mozart's Die Zauberflöte
2026-07-18 14:00, 2026-07-21 17:00 | Norton Hall, Norton Hall
Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Librettist: Original text by Emanuel Schickaneder, English dialogue translation by Alice Goodman
Stage Director: Nathan Troup
Conductor: Stephen Hargreaves
In Mozart’s comic opera The Magic Flute, Prince Tamino embarks on a journey to rescue Pamina, only to discover that the true battle isn’t between people, but between ignorance and understanding. Guided by elements both mystical and spiritual—and joined by the ever-hopeful, always-hungry, bird-catching Papageno as their trusty sidekick—Tamino and Pamina undergo trials of courage, integrity, and resilience. As the Queen of the Night spreads fear and misinformation, the wise Sarastro champions reason, compassion, and community. In a world that often feels divided by noise and uncertainty, The Magic Flute resonates as a timeless and timely tale of seeking truth, choosing empathy over fear, and finding harmony through connection.
Sung in German (with English supertitles) and spoken English dialogue.

Chautauqua Theater Company Presents Best for Baby (Pick-Your-Price)
2026-07-18 17:00 | Bratton Theater, Bratton Theater
WORLD PREMIERE
By Sharyn Rothstein
Directed by Oliver Butler
Bratton Theater
Best for Baby and its devilishly funny emcee takes audiences inside Johnson & Johnson’s decades-long and still evolving baby powder scandal. A Big American Play ripped straight from the headlines, this world premiere is equal parts showbiz spectacle and intimate human storytelling, brought to you by a sensational comedic ensemble of professional guest artists — led by Broadway actors George Abud and Crystal Dickinson — alongside members of CTC’s beloved conservatory.
Best for Baby is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Catholic Mass
2026-07-18 17:00, 2026-07-19 09:15, 2026-07-25 17:00, 2026-07-26 09:15, 2026-08-01 17:00, 2026-08-02 09:15, 2026-08-08 17:00, 2026-08-09 09:15 and 6 more dates | Hall of Christ: Sanctuary

Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra: Holst's The Planets
2026-07-18 20:00 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Rossen Milanov, conductor
Embark on a thrilling musical journey across galaxies with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. The evening opens with John Williams’ iconic “Main Theme” from the Star Wars Suite filled with energy, heroism, and familiar melodies. Holst follows with “The Planets”, a monumental suite exploring Roman gods and goddesses through sound. From Mars’ ferocious ostinato to Neptune’s mysterious beauty, the orchestra will explore a full range of characters. Together, these pieces bring exhilarating celestial energy to the amphitheater.
Program:
Williams: Star Wars, “Main Theme”
Holst: The Planets

Cantor Olivia Brodsky
2026-07-19 10:45, 2026-07-20 09:15, 2026-07-21 09:15, 2026-07-22 09:15 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Cantor Olivia Brodsky serves as Cantor and Co-Clergy of East End Temple in Manhattan, alongside Rabbi Joshua Stanton. She is a vocalist dedicated to preserving Jewish culture and tradition while making it evermore applicable to daily life and accessible for people of all generations. Brodsky is passionate about engaging a diverse community of people with varying backgrounds and levels of religious and cultural observance, herself having been raised in the Conservative movement and now dually affiliated with both the Reform movement’s American Conference of Cantors and the Conservative movement’s Cantor’s Assembly.
Brodsky is deeply engaged in Jewish education, global Jewish travel, and interfaith
dialogue. In reaction to divisive politics plaguing both the US and the world at large, she founded an Adult Education series entitled “Complex Conversations with the Cantor,” where she facilitates respectful dialogue between people with a diverse array of views on controversial issues.
As an outspoken advocate for the Jewish community and a published writer, Brodsky contributes op-ed commentary to a variety of news outlets addressing Jewish identity, the Arab-Israeli Conflict, Zionism, and antisemitism. She brings a nuanced understanding of Jewish history, culture, Abrahamic faith traditions, Middle Eastern politics, social justice, and ethics to her ministry. Brodsky strives to create relevant, inclusive, intellectually engaging Jewish experiences for her community.
Brodsky attended a dual-degree program at Tufts University and the New England Conservatory of Music (NEC), earning a B.A. in Judaic Studies and studying Classical Vocal Performance. She received her Master of Sacred Music and Cantorial Ordination from the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion.

The Great American Picnic
2026-07-19 12:00 | Literary Arts Grove

School of Dance: Student Gala I
2026-07-19 15:00 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Chautauqua School of Dance presents an outstanding mixed repertoire matinee of new and established works featuring the most exceptional young talent in the country. Under the leadership of Sasha Janes,
Bonnefoux McBride Artistic Director of Chautauqua School of Dance, the school continues its long tradition of excellence as a top-tier summer training program focused on bringing the next generation of dance stars from the studio to the stage.

Hebrew Congregation, Shirley Lazarus Sunday Evening Lecture Series
2026-07-19 19:00, 2026-07-26 19:00, 2026-08-02 19:00, 2026-08-09 19:00, 2026-08-16 19:00, 2026-08-23 19:00, 2026-08-30 19:00 | Smith Wilkes Hall, Smith Wilkes Hall

Chautauqua Theater Company Presents Best for Baby
2026-07-19 19:30, 2026-07-21 19:30, 2026-07-22 18:00, 2026-07-23 14:00, 2026-07-23 19:30, 2026-07-24 16:00, 2026-07-26 14:00, 2026-07-26 19:30 and 7 more dates | Bratton Theater, Bratton Theater

David Wallace-Wells
2026-07-20 10:45 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
David Wallace-Wells is an acclaimed columnist and staff writer for The New York Times. Neither a scientist nor an environmental activist per se, Wallace-Wells is a celebrated climate change speaker and journalist who uses the power of storytelling to move the needle on climate action. He also writes a weekly newsletter on climate change, technology and the future of the planet, themes that will frame his lecture opening Chautauqua’s Week Four theme, “Wasted: Our Era of Disposability.”
Wallace-Wells is the author of The New York Times bestselling book about the consequences of global warming, The Uninhabitable Earth. His book looks beyond what needs to be done, to consider what the world will actually look like if we don’t move fast. It predicted much of the dizzying, disorienting situation we’re in now — not just the growth of pandemics, but the cascading way that multiple climate-fueled crises undermine our ability to respond effectively to any single one. He highlights that stabilizing the world’s climate is the underlying solution that also can achieve prosperity, justice and equality of all kinds.
He has also written widely on the Covid-19 pandemic, bringing vital reporting and analysis to science and policy coverage. Wallace-Wells was previously the deputy editor at New York magazine, where he wrote a column on climate change, and where his viral cover story “The Uninhabitable Earth” was met with widespread acclaim, paving the way for his book. Formerly the deputy editor of The Paris Review, and a National Fellow at the New America Foundation, he was the co-host of the podcast “2038,” which interrogated predictions about the next two decades.

Panel Discussion: The Re-Use Economy, Innovations from Western NY
2026-07-20 12:15 | Smith Wilkes Hall, Smith Wilkes Hall

Chautauqua Chamber Music: Del Sol Quartet
2026-07-20 16:00 | Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall, Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall
Experience the adventurous Del Sol Quartet in a powerful concert that explores how generational knowledge helps us heal our world. Known for their bold artistry and commitment to diverse voices, Del Sol presents a brand-new quartet, Moananuiākea by composer Leilehua Lanzilotti, a work that honors the vast Pacific Ocean and the interconnectedness of all who cross it. The program highlights the quartet’s signature blend of innovation, beauty, and cultural storytelling. Join us for a performance that expands the boundaries of the string quartet tradition.

Music School Festival Orchestra
2026-07-20 20:00, 2026-08-10 20:00 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Comprised of top-tier students from conservatories and universities in the U.S. and abroad, Music School Festival Orchestra members participate in a variety of musical activities during their summers at Chautauqua including chamber music and private lessons along with their meticulous orchestral training. Alumni from the MSFO can be heard in many of the world’s top orchestras and chamber ensembles and can be found on music faculties worldwide. The MSFO is led by Artistic Director Timothy Muffitt, who serves as Music Director of the Lansing Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Laureate of the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra.

Dr. John Atkinson: Engineering a Way Out of Our Era of Disposability
2026-07-21 09:15 | Hurlbut Church sanctuary, Hurlbut Church sanctuary

Aja Barber
2026-07-21 10:45 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Aja Barber is a writer and sustainability consultant focusing on the intersections of sustainability, fashion, and the textile industry. Her work explores the traditions of privilege, wealth inequality, racism, feminism, colonialism, and how these systems of power affect our buying habits.
Consumed is her debut book, a treatise on the state of fashion, climate change, and social justice. The book reveals the endemic injustices in our consumer industries, the uncomfortable history of the textile industry, and how oppressive systems help create a lack of diversity and equality in the fashion industry. Independent booksellers across the UK and Ireland voted to include Consumed on the non-fiction shortlist for the Indie Book Awards 2023.
Barber has written for The Guardian, CNN, Selfridges, Eco-Age, and a host of other sites. She contributed to “No Offence But…” by Gina Martin. She is currently working on a novel acquired by Brazen Books. Originally from Reston, Virginia, Barber currently lives in South East London. In addition to her other work, Barber is a contributing editor for Elle UK. Her Patreon newsletter has been going since 2018 and was the first slow fashion newsletter of this type.

Rachael Zoe Miller, Rozalia Project to Save Our Seas: Decision-making int the Age of Plastics
2026-07-21 12:30 | Smith Wilkes Hall, Smith Wilkes Hall

School of Music Piano Faculty Recital: José Ramón Méndez
2026-07-21 16:00 | Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall, Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall
Described as “an artist with a polished sound and tremendous constructive power” and hailed by the Hoja del Lunes de Madrid, as “the Spanish pianist of his generation,” José Ramón Méndez is one of the most exciting Spanish pianists of today.
Recent performances include Chopin’s first piano concerto with the Cuban National Symphony Orchestra and Manuel de Falla’s Nights in the Gardens of Spain with the Nittany Valley Symphony, as well as numerous solo and chamber music performances in the United States, Europe, and Asia. His playing has been featured on WQXR’s “Performance Today” and on Classical KMFA. He has been a guest performer at many music festivals, including the Caramoor Festival, Barge Music Series, Festival Internacional de Piano de las Islas Canarias, Music at Penn’s Woods, Amalfi Coast International Music Festival, “Tocando el Cielo,” Musica en Compostela, the Stony Brook International Piano Festival, and the Santander International Music Festival, among many others. As a chamber musician, Méndez has collaborated with such distinguished artists as Karl Leister, Itzhak Perlman, Michael Tree, Pascual Martinez-Nieto, and Pinchas Zukerman.

Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra: Beethoven's "Eroica"
2026-07-21 20:00 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Timothy Muffitt, conductor
Under the baton of Timothy Muffitt, the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra opens with Christopher Theofanidis’s Rainbow Body, a luminous work inspired by one of Hildegard von Bingen’s medieval chants. Closing out the night is Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, “Eroica”, an evolutionary masterpiece that ushered in an era of new symphonic music. Equally expansive and bold, the Eroica transforms personal struggle into heroic expression.
Program:
Christopher Theofanidis: Rainbow Body
Beethoven: Symphony #3 “Eroica”

Ron Gonen
2026-07-22 10:45 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Ron Gonen is the founder and CEO of Closed Loop Partners, a firm at the forefront of building the circular economy. Closed Loop Partners is comprised of an asset management business, innovation center and operating group that builds and operates circular economy infrastructure, including the largest privately held recycling company in the U.S. It is this work that will inform his presentation during Week Four of the Chautauqua Lecture Series, themed “Wasted: Our Era of Disposability,” with thoughts on how industry can embrace sustainability to chart a path for a healthier planet — and immense business opportunity.
Gonen is the author of the book, The Waste Free World: How the Circular Economy Will Take Less, Make More, and Save the Planet, in addition to several technology and environmental science patents. Prior to founding Closed Loop Partners, he served as the deputy commissioner for sanitation, recycling and sustainability in New York City during the Bloomberg administration. In this role, he oversaw the collection and processing of paper, metal, glass, plastic, textile waste, electronic waste, organics and hazardous waste, as well as public policy. During his tenure, he was recognized by the Natural Resources Defense Council/Earth Day NY as the Public Official of the Year.
Gonen founded his first recycling company in 2002. The companies he has led have been recognized as innovators in sustainable business practices. Awards include The Conference of Mayors Public/Private Partnership of the Year, Technology Pioneer from the World Economic Forum and The Wall Street Journal’s No. 1 Venture Backed Cleantech Company of The Year. He earned an MBA from Columbia Business School and later served as an adjunct professor.

UU Cultural Ethics Series: J. D. Stillwater, President of Religious Naturalists Unitarian Universalists
2026-07-22 15:30 | Hall of Philosophy, Hall of Philosophy

Chautauqua Opera Company Operalogue: The Music Shop / A.E. Reverie / Ida by Lamplight
2026-07-22 17:00 | Smith Wilkes Hall, Smith Wilkes Hall

CVA Lecture Series: Elizabeth Mooney, School of Art Faculty
2026-07-22 18:30 | Hultquist 101, Hultquist 101
Elizabeth Mooney is a visual artist that explores the construct of landscape through painting, printmaking, and kinetic sculpture. She received her MFA in Painting and Drawing from California College of the Arts, and her BFA from the Art Institute of Boston. Elizabeth was a Visual Artist Fellow at the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, and has received grants from the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, the Sustainable Arts Foundation, and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Elizabeth is currently an Associate Professor at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, where she teaches painting and printmaking.

Chautauqua Opera Company presents: The Music Shop / A.E. Reverie / Ida by Lamplight
2026-07-22 20:00 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
THE MUSIC SHOP / A.E. REVERIE / IDA BY LAMPLIGHT
Three operas light up the Amphitheater stage on July 22, bringing both side-splitting laughter and heart-melting nostalgia. In Richard Wargo’s zany one-act The Music Shop (last seen at Chautauqua where it premiered in 1993) Dmitri and Masha try to help the hapless Ivan remember the title of the song his wife must sing at a royal wedding, while visions of her haunt and strike fear in him. This four-character, 60-minute farce promises a lively romp in the Amphitheater! Two installments from The Summer Place round out the evening. A.E. Reverie, which received its world premiere at Chautauqua in 2024, reflects on Amelia Earhart’s 1929 lecture at the Amphitheater, and how it inspired another young woman’s dream of flight. To close out the evening, the world premiere of Ida by Lamplight takes us back to the Chautauqua Literary and Science Circle’s early years, celebrating Ida Tarbell and Kate Kimball, whose pioneering work galvanized Chautauqua Institution’s mission. Commissioned by Chautauqua Opera Company, Ida by Lamplight celebrates the 150th anniversary of The Chautauquan Daily in 2026. Stage Director Ned Canty (The Mikado, Don Giovanni, and Love and Longing by the Lake) brings everything to life in a celebration of Chautauqua which you will not want to miss.

Cantor Olivia Brodsky
2026-07-23 09:15 | Hall of Philosophy, Hall of Philosophy

CTC Theater Chats
2026-07-23 12:15, 2026-07-30 12:15, 2026-08-06 12:15, 2026-08-13 12:15 | Smith Wilkes Hall, Smith Wilkes Hall

Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra: Hovhaness and Shostakovich
2026-07-23 20:00 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Rossen Milanov, conductor
The Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra presents two notable symphonies of the twentieth century. Hovhaness’s Symphony No. 2, “Mysterious Mountain,” unfolds as a meditation on nature, drawing listeners into a sound world of serenity, chant-like melody, and rich expression. In contrast, Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 12 is a work of momentum and scale, depicting history through bold orchestral force and intensity. Together, these symphonies highlight two distinct approaches to the symphonic form-one inward and contemplative, the other outward and declarative.
Program:
Hovhaness: Symphony No. 2 “Mysterious Mountain”
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 12, “The Year 1917”

Rainn Wilson
2026-07-24 10:45 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Drawing on his experience as a cultural commentator and advocate for spiritual renewal, Rainn Wilson closes Chautauqua’s Week Four theme “Wasted: Our Era of Disposability” in conversation, weaving humor with a sense of moral urgency to discuss how disposability affects not only our environment but also erodes our sense of meaning, relationships and community.
Wilson is an Emmy-nominated and SAG Award-winning actor best known for playing Dwight Schrute on NBC’s “The Office.” A longtime environmental activist, Wilson co-founded Climate Basecamp in 2022. With the organization, he has been working on climate communications and serves as a member on the advisory board.
On his podcast, “Soul Boom,” Wilson hosts a series of intimate conversations with some of the most brilliant and heart-felt artists, thinkers and doers to bring the listener toward transformation on both a personal and spiritual level. In 2009, he founded the digital media company Soul Pancake. He is the author of four books including The Bassoon King, SoulPancake: Chew on Life’s Big Questions, Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution, and Soul Boom Workbook: Spiritual Tools for Modern Living.
Wilson is also known for “Lessons in Chemistry”; the unscripted travel series “Rainn Wilson and the Geography of Bliss”; “Jerry & Marge Go Large”; “Utopia”; Roger Michell’s “Blackbird”; “The Meg”; “Star Trek: Discovery”; “Hesher”; “Super”; “Cooties”; “Juno”; “Galaxy Quest”; and “Almost Famous.” He has an MFA from New York University. On Broadway, Wilson was in The Tempest” and the Tony nominated “London Assurance.” He performed “Thom Pain (Based on Nothing)” at The Geffen and was the lead role in the political farce “The Doppelganger” at Steppenwolf Theater.
Later that afternoon, Wilson will host a Masters Series workshop engaging the Chautauqua community with his journal-style Soul Boom Workbook: Spiritual Tools for Modern Living — based on his New York Times bestselling book and hit podcast Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution.

Mary Alice Monroe
2026-07-24 14:00 | Hall of Philosophy, Hall of Philosophy
Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle — Where the Rivers Merge: A Novel by Mary Alice Monroe
From the New York Times bestselling author, the first of two epic and triumphant novels celebrating one intrepid woman’s life across multiple generations in the American South.
1908: The Lowcountry of South Carolina is at the cusp of change. Mayfield, the grand estate held for generations by the Rivers family, is the treasured home of young Eliza. A free spirit, she refuses to be confined by societal norms and spends her days exploring the vast property, observing wildlife, and riding horses. But the Great War, coastal storms, and family turmoil bring unexpected challenges to Eliza, putting her on a collision course with the patriarchal traditions of a bygone era.
1988: At 88, Eliza is the scion of the Rivers/DeLancey family. She’s fought a lifetime to save her beloved Mayfield and is too independent and committed to quietly retire and leave the fate of the estate to her greedy son. She must make decisions that will assure the future of the land and her family—or watch them both be split apart.
Set against the evocative landscape of the twentieth-century Lowcountry, Where the Rivers Merge is a dramatic and sweeping multigenerational family story of unyielding love, lessons learned, profound sacrifices, and the indomitable spirit of a woman determined to persevere in the face of change in order to protect her family legacy and the land she loves.
Based in Charleston, South Carolina, is the New York Times best-selling author of thirty books–and counting, Mary Alice Monroe. Richly layered and rooted to place her Lowcountry-set novels defy literary labels. More than feel-good escapism or traditional beach reads, her engrossing stories deftly explore the intersections and parallels between Mother Nature and human nature, hooking readers emotionally and introducing them to characters and causes that live in their hearts and minds. Her robust library of work–from the popular Beach House series to her compelling fiction, to her newer middle grade series, The Islanders–engages readers across generational lines, inspiring them to take a harder look at the environment–and our impact on it. To ask the important questions. To seek answers. To create connections–both with nature and in our personal lives.

Chautauqua Theater Company Presents FutureNow New Play Lab 2: Erasers: A Bloodthirsty Comedy
2026-07-24 14:00, 2026-07-25 14:00, 2026-07-25 18:00, 2026-07-26 18:00, 2026-08-01 17:00 | Roe Green Theater Center
Experience new plays the moment they come to life. The FutureNow new play labs showcase original work by CTC’s inaugural class of Playwriting Fellows in collaboration with our Directing Fellows—a program developed through CTC’s newly expanded partnership with The Drama League—and brought to life in public, staged, and designed workshop readings.
Performed by CTC’s Acting Conservatory and shaped by our Design Fellows, these student workshops mark CTC’s first ticketed performances in the Roe Green Theater Center. With more artists, more fellows and more new work than ever before, audiences are invited inside the creative process as the next generation of theater makers brings fresh stories to life.

Masters Series Masterclass: A Dialogue with Rainn Wilson
2026-07-24 15:30 | Norton Hall, Norton Hall
Chautauqua Lecture Series keynote speaker Rainn Wilson hosts a workshop engaging the Chautauqua community with his journal-style Soul Boom Workbook: Spiritual Tools for Modern Living—written in collaboration with Wilson’s SoulPancake co-founder and writer Shabnam Mogharabi. It is filled with hands-on prompts, inspired reflections, and ingenious creative activities. The session delves deeper into the indispensable companion book, based on his New York Times bestselling book—now a hit podcast—Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution. Wilson’s approach to spirituality is relatable and applies to people of all beliefs, even the skeptics. The journal enables readers to find more purpose, meaning, and spirituality in their hectic lives as they seek out practical and transformative answers to life’s biggest questions. Wilson posits that a “Soul Boom” is the potential for a spiritual revolution to instigate transformations, both individually and collectively. It’s the healing balm that our world needs in our contemporary mental health crisis.

Alison Krauss & Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas with special guest Theo Lawrence
2026-07-24 19:30 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
For nearly four decades, Alison Krauss & Union Station have upheld their legacy as one of the most influential and widely celebrated acts in bluegrass and roots music. Known for an immaculately crafted but endlessly surprising sound that transcends the boundaries of roots, country, rock & roll, and pop, Alison Krauss & Union Station released their highly anticipated new album, Arcadia, in 2025. This marked their first studio album since the 2011 masterpiece Paper Airplane—a critically lauded, multiple Grammy Award winning LP that debuted at #1 on the Billboard Country, Bluegrass, and Folk Album charts. Over the years, Alison Krauss & Union Station have brought their phenomenal live show to sold-out performances at famed venues like Red Rocks Amphitheatre, The Greek Theatre, Radio City Music Hall, and London’s Royal Festival Hall, in addition to supporting Paul Simon in Hyde Park for his 2012 Graceland reunion. They now continue the celebration of their new music with the Arcadia 2026 Tour.
The players – Alison Krauss (fiddle, lead vocal), Jerry Douglas (Dobro, lap steel, vocals), Ron Block (banjo, guitar, vocals), Barry Bales (bass, vocals), and highly acclaimed and celebrated tenor vocalist Russell Moore (guitar, mandolin, lead vocal) – are five distinct personalities, each of whom enjoys a flourishing solo career. But when they come together, they transform into a peerless group of musicians who share a singular focus.

Chautauqua Theater Company Presents Conservatory Improv Night
2026-07-24 22:00 | Roe Green Theater Center
An evening of improv featuring the extraordinary talents of our 2026 conservatory.

Chautauqua Theater Company Presents Best for Baby (Live Audio Descriptions & Pick-Your-Price)
2026-07-25 16:00 | Bratton Theater, Bratton Theater

Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra: Carmina Burana
2026-07-25 20:00 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Rossen Milanov, conductor
The Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus joins the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra for a captivating performance of the iconic Carmina Burana. Carl Orff’s masterpiece is drawn from medieval texts exploring fate, love, and the unpredictability of fortune. Best known for its electrifying opening, O Fortuna, the piece unfolds as a series of vivid scenes propelled by driving rhythms and striking orchestration. Immediate and powerful, Carmina Burana captures the raw intensity of human experience.
Program:
Orff: Carmina Burana

The Rev. Zina Jacque
2026-07-26 10:45, 2026-07-27 09:15, 2026-07-28 09:15, 2026-07-29 09:15 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
The Rev. Zina Jacque serves as President and Chair of the Board of National Senior Communities, overseeing the largest not-for-profit network of continuing-care retirement communities in the nation. Across two distinguished careers in higher education and ministry, she has worked to lift people, strengthen communities, and send good into the world. She continues to guide nonprofit boards and faith-based organizations nationwide.
For two decades, Jacque shaped the student experience at several leading universities. After transitioning to ministry, Jacque’s pastoral path has taken her from small urban parishes to historic pulpits, notably as the lead minister for the Villages of Alfred Street at the renowned Alfred Street Baptist Church.
Extending her service well beyond church walls, Jacque was the first executive director of the Boston Ten Point Coalition — a violence reduction initiative credited with nearly two homicide-free years among Boston’s youth under 21. Later, she founded the Pastoral Counseling Center at Trinity Church Boston. Jacque also co-founded Courageous Conversations, a national dialogue series fostering belonging and understanding in a polarized age.
Jacque’s impact has been recognized with numerous honors, including the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Boston University School of Theology, the 2022 Citizen of the Year Award from Barrington, Ill. and the Women of Distinction Award from the Barrington Chamber of Commerce. Jacque’s most recent work, “A Sacred Pause,” is a collection of meditations, journals, and reflections which has drawn a growing online following for its mix of stillness, wisdom, and grace.
Jacque holds a Bachelor of Arts from Northwestern University, Master of Arts from Columbia University, Master of Divinity and Ph.D. in Theology from Boston University.

"Cutwork" Exhibition: July 26–August 25
2026-07-26 13:00 | Strohl Art Center: Main Galleries
“Cutwork” exhibition runs July 26-August 25. “Cutwork” is a broad exploration of work using methods of cutting into or removing material. Featuring hand-cut paper, metal, fibers, and ceramics, these artists explore the weight and gravity of their material and subject matter. Layered and lacy textures reveal what is built and what is left behind. This exhibition is generously sponsored by Brenda and Larry Thompson. Curated by Erika Diamond.
Artists: Elizabeth Alexander, Teresa Faris, Piper Shephard, Justin Stewart, Lydia C. Thompson, and Michael Velliquette.

"A Different Light: Landscapes by Gwen Norton" Exhibition: July 26–August 25
2026-07-26 13:00 | Strohl Art Center 2nd Floor
“A Different Light: Landscapes by Gwen Norton” exhibition – July 26-August 25. Gwen Norton is currently in her thesis year of the MFA program at the School of Visual Arts in Photography, Video, and Related Media Department. Her work has been exhibited solo, two-person, and group shows in New York City and Martha’s Vineyard and is included in the collection of the Whitney Museum of Art Library. This exhibition is generously sponsored by the Friends of CVA. Curated by Judy Barie, the Susan & John Turben Director of CVA Galleries.

"Cutwork" Opening Reception
2026-07-26 15:00 | Strohl Art Center: Main Galleries
“Cutwork” opening reception. Exhibition runs July 26-August 25. “Cutwork” is a broad exploration of work using methods of cutting into or removing material. Featuring hand-cut paper, metal, fibers, and ceramics, these artists explore the weight and gravity of their material and subject matter. Layered and lacy textures reveal what is built and what is left behind. This exhibition is generously sponsored by Brenda and Larry thompson. Curated by Erika Diamond.
Artists: Elizabeth Alexander, Teresa Faris, Piper Shephard, Justin Stewart, Lydia C. Thompson, and Michael Velliquette.

"A Different Light: Landscapes by Gwen Norton" Exhibition Opening Reception
2026-07-26 15:00 | Strohl Art Center 2nd Floor
“A Different Light: Landscapes by Gwen Norton” opening reception. Exhibition runs July 26-August 25. Gwen Norton is currently in her thesis year of the MFA program at the School of Visual Arts in Photography, Video, and Related Media Department. Her work has been exhibited solo, two-person, and group shows in New York City and Martha’s Vineyard and is included in the collection of the Whitney Museum of Art Library. This exhibition is generously sponsored by the Friends of CVA. Curated by Judy Barie, the Susan & John Turben Director of CVA Galleries.

School of Music: Piano Program Showcase
2026-07-26 15:00 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Nicola Melville, Chair
Alexander Kobrin, 2026 Heintzelman Family Artistic Advisor
Pianists from the Chautauqua School of Music present a dazzling program of works for one and two pianos, with repertoire drawn from virtuoso works of the great classical composers and arrangements of popular and familiar tunes. Don’t miss your chance to see the next generation of talent on the Amphitheater stage today!
The Chautauqua Piano Program is a highly selective and dynamic five-week program for 20 pianists, ages 18–28. Combining a world-class roster of resident and guest faculty with unmatched practice and performance facilities, the program is designed to inspire young pianists from all over the globe. Students have solo and chamber music performance opportunities, plentiful private lessons, faculty-led discussions and master classes focused on advanced pianistic growth and building a career path.

The Crossover Panel with Kwame Alexander, Candrice Jones, Christopher Jackson and Jade King Carroll
2026-07-27 10:45 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
The highly anticipated musical adaptation of Kwame Alexander’s Newbery medal-winning novel, The Crossover, was commissioned and is being developed for the stage by the Chautauqua Theater Company. Hosted by Jade King Carroll, the producing artistic director of the Chautauqua Theater Company and director of The Crossover musical, the dynamic creative team behind the musical will gather on the Amphitheater stage for a conversation about the creative process, collaboration and what it means to be generative artists. The musical adaptation is being developed and workshopped both in Chautauqua and New York City, with Tony Award-winner Thomas Kail as creative consultant.
Kwame Alexander is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of 45 books, including Why Fathers Cry at Night; The Mighty Macy; Black Star, a Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book; J vs. K, an illustrated novel he penned with Jerry Craft; the motivational primer for graduates, creatives and professionals entitled Say Yes; and The Crossover, his Newbery Medal-winning novel turned Emmy Award-winning Disney+ TV series and forthcoming musical. Alexander is a 2026 Sine 250+ Fellow at American University and the founder of the literacy non-profit One Word at a Time.
He is also the co-creator and executive producer of the Emmy-nominated “Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band and Acoustic Rooster: Jazzy Jams,” a PBS KIDS special and series of shorts produced by GBH Kids based on his beloved children’s book of the same name.
Alexander regularly shares his passion for literacy, books and the craft of writing around the world, including Ghana, West Africa, where he opened the Barbara E. Alexander Memorial Library and Health Clinic. He is the recipient of the 2025 NAACP Image Award.
Candrice Jones is a playwright and educator from Dermott, Arkansas. As a rising voice in American theater, she brings her poetic sensibility and powerful storytelling to the adaptation of The Crossover. She serves as a board member and educational outreach specialist of The Weekend Theater as well as Ozark Living Newspaper.
Jones’ primary goal as a writer is to write love letters for and to women of the American South. She is best known for writing “FLEX,” a play developed while she was a resident at the Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation (VONA) Playwrights Festival, Ground Floor. FLEX premiered at Lincoln Center Theater in New York and Penumbra Theatre in St. Paul, Minnesota. Jones is also the author of the full-length play, “Crackbaby.” She has received virtual commissions from the People’s Light and Actors Theatre of Louisville.
Jones is a CalArts Critical Studies MFA recipient. She was a fellow at Callaloo for poetry at Brown University. She was also a former resident at MacDowell’s Colony of the Arts.
Christopher Jackson is a Tony Award- nominated actor, as well as a Grammy and Emmy Award-winning songwriter/composer best known for starring as George Washington in the critically acclaimed, award-winning musical “Hamilton” on Broadway and Disney+. As the creator of “The Crossover” musical score, he incorporates high-energy jazz and hip-hop to reflect the world full of dreams, melodies and rhythms.
In 2021, Jackson starred in Freestyle Love Supreme on Broadway alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda. His other Broadway credits include Holler if Ya Hear Me, After Midnight, The Bronx Bombers, In the Heights, Memphis and The Lion King. Off Broadway credits include Bronx Bombers, The Jammer, In the Heights, Cotton Club Parade, and Lonely, I’m Not.
Jackson’s TV and film credits include “And Just Like That,” “Bull,” “Freestyle Love Supreme,” “Person of Interest,” “A Gifted Man,” “Fringe,” “Gossip Girl,” “Tracers,” “Afterlife” and the 2021 film adaptation of “In the Heights.” Jackson voiced “Where You Are” for the Disney film “Moana,” and served as composer/songwriter for “Sesame Street,” garnering seven Emmy nominations and one win. He was also the co-music supervisor and writer for “The Electric Company” on PBS.
In 2018, “One Last Time (44 Remix)” was released which featured Jackson alongside President Barack Obama and BeBe Winans. Jackson won an Emmy Award for his song with Will.I.Am, “What I Am.”
Jackson has performed sold-out concerts all over the United States, including Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center, and a command performance at the White House in 2023.
Jade King Carroll is a distinguished director specializing in new play development, and the Producing Artistic Director of Chautauqua Theater Company (CTC).
She has directed over 60 classical and contemporary productions nationwide at renowned venues. Most recently, she directed Chisa Hutchinson’s “Amerikin” at Primary Stages. Notable credits include “Proof of Love,” “Detroit ’67,” “Having Our Say,” “Red Velvet,” and multiple productions of August Wilson’s work—she is one of the few directors to have worked on every play in Wilson’s Century Cycle.
At CTC, Carroll is programming innovative new works, including the world premieres of “Tiny father” by Mike Lew (a co-production with Barrington Stage Company) and commissioned pieces, “The Light and The Dark (the Life and Times of Artemisia Gentileschi)” by Kate Hamill (co-produced with off-Broadway’s Primary Stages in NYC) and the world premiere of “The Witnesses” by C.A. Johnson. Under her leadership, CTC has secured two NYSCA grants and partnered with the Telsey Office for casting and the Drama League to expand its directing fellows’ program.
As a director of audio plays, Carroll’s work can be found with Audible, Marvel, and Broadway Podcast Network. She is also an educator that has guest lectured and directed at Juilliard, Rutgers, NYU, Princeton, and many more schools. She has an award from the August Wilson Estate as well as from her alma mater, SUNY New Paltz.

The 22nd Annual Robert H. Jackson Lecture on the Supreme Court of the United States — Michael Dreeben
2026-07-27 15:30 | Hall of Philosophy, Hall of Philosophy
Michael R. Dreeben is a distinguished lecturer from government at Georgetown University Law Center and an adjunct professor at American University Washington College of Law. From 1988 to 2019, Dreeben served in the Office of Solicitor General in the U.S. Department of Justice, first as an assistant to the solicitor general and then as a deputy solicitor general. As deputy solicitor general from 1994 to 2019, Dreeben supervised the criminal docket for the United States in the U.S. Supreme Court. Dreeben has argued 109 Supreme Court cases on behalf of the United States and private clients. He has briefed hundreds more. He also argued cases in every regional federal court of appeals, including en banc cases in 10 circuits. During the summer of 2006, he served as a special assistant United States attorney in the District of Maryland.

From 2017 to 2019, Dreeben was detailed to serve as counselor to Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III in the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and obstruction of justice.

In 2023, Dreeben returned to the Department of Justice to serve as counselor to Special Counsel Jack Smith, where he represented the United States on brief and in argument in Trump v. United States on the question whether a former president has immunity from criminal prosecution for his official acts.

During his tenure in the Solicitor General’s office, Dreeben argued many landmark cases in criminal law and procedure. These include cases involving hate crimes and the First Amendment, Fourth Amendment rights in the internet age, cases involving public corruption and private fraud, and the Sixth Amendment’s Confrontation Clause.

Dreeben received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a master’s degree in history from the University of Chicago, and his law degree from Duke University, where he served as an articles editor on the Duke Law Journal. He served as a law clerk to the honorable Jerre S. Williams of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Dreeben has also taught at Harvard Law School, Duke Law School, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and has published articles and posts on the Supreme Court and the Department of Justice. His most recent essay is “Robert Jackson’s The Federal Prosecutor Revisited,” in the Harvard Law Review Forum (2026).
Chautauqua Institution’s Robert H. Jackson Lecture is named in honor of the former Chautauquan, Jamestown lawyer, New Dealer, Solicitor General, Attorney General, Supreme Court justice, and Nuremberg chief prosecutor. Every summer the Jackson Lecture is a leading expert discussing the Supreme Court, the Justices, signal decisions, and related legal developments.
Chautauqua’s previous Jackson Lecturers have been Geoffrey Stone (2005), Linda Greenhouse (2006), Seth Waxman (2007), Jeffrey Toobin (2008), Paul Clement (2009), Jeff Shesol (2010), Dahlia Lithwick (2011), Pamela Karlan (2012), Charles Fried (2013), Akhil Amar (2014), Laurence Tribe (2015), Tracey Meares (2016), Judge Jon O. Newman (2017), Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella of Canada’s Supreme Court (2018), Donald B. Verrilli, Jr. (2019), Ruth Marcus (2020), Melissa Murray (2021), Reva Siegel (2022), Justin Driver (2023), Kate Shaw (2024) and Kim Lane Scheppele (2025).
This program is presented in collaboration with the Robert H. Jackson Center.

Chautauqua Chamber Music: Verona Quartet
2026-07-27 16:00 | Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall, Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall
Join the acclaimed Verona Quartet for an afternoon of expressive performances and dynamic ensemble artistry. Hailed for their “sensational” playing and deep musical insight, the Verona Quartet brings passion and precision to every work they perform. Their program showcases a vibrant mix of classical masterpieces and contemporary voices, reflecting their commitment to storytelling through sound. Experience the emotional power and refined elegance of one of today’s leading string quartets.

Film & Filmmaker Talk: Emmy Award-Winning "Troubled Waters" with Rory Fielding
2026-07-27 16:30 | Chautauqua Cinema, Chautauqua Cinema

Chautauqua Opera Conservatory with the Music School Festival Orchestra "L’Enfant Prodigue & Les Mamelles de Tiresias"
2026-07-27 20:00 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Music by: Claude Debussy & Francis Poulenc
Librettist: Édouard Guinand & Guillaume Apollinaire
Stage Director: Emma Griffin
Conductor: Timothy Muffitt
Two masters of French music share the stage in a sparkling double bill. Francis Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tirésias (1945) bursts with surreal satire, flipping gender norms topsy-turvy in a wildly imaginative romp of music and mischief. It’s paired with Claude Debussy’s luminous early masterpiece L’enfant prodigue (1884), a one-act cantata suffused with longing, redemption, and sumptuous lyricism. Together, these works deliver an evening of operatic drama and delight.
The Chautauqua Opera Conservatory is a premier, immersive summer program offering the highest caliber of training for young singers ages 18 and older. Under the leadership of Director Jonathan Beyer, participants join a select community of singers who study, coach, and perform in the inspiring and idyllic setting of the Chautauqua Institution in western New York State.
Our program combines rigorous artistic preparation with a warm, encouraging environment that puts each singer’s growth and well-being first. Voice lessons, role study, vocal coachings, and masterclasses are led by a distinguished full-time faculty of voice teachers, coaches, and stage directors, alongside renowned guest artists from the world’s leading opera houses and conservatories. Students explore and perform repertoire spanning Opera, Art Song, Oratorio, Chamber Music, and Crossover styles.
Comprised of top-tier students from conservatories and universities in the U.S. and abroad, Music School Festival Orchestra members participate in a variety of musical activities during their summers at Chautauqua including chamber music and private lessons along with their meticulous orchestral training. Alumni from the MSFO can be heard in many of the world’s top orchestras and chamber ensembles and can be found on music faculties worldwide. The MSFO is led by Artistic Director Timothy Muffitt, who serves as Music Director of the Lansing Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Laureate of the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra.

Masters Series Masterclass: The Picture Book with Kao Kalia Yang
2026-07-28 09:00 | Alumni Hall Ballroom, Alumni Hall Ballroom
Kao Kalia Yang is known for her work for adults, but since 2019, she’s cultivated an award-winning body of work in children’s literature. Join Yang in this Masters Series session as she reads from some of her picture books and speaks to the movement across age groups and genre lines in a life dedicated to sharing stories that a child can grow up with and an adult can grow old with.
Kao Kalia Yang is an award-winning Hmong American teacher, speaker, and writer. Her work crosses genres and audiences and centers Hmong children and families who live in our world, who dream, hurt, and hope in it. Yang’s writing and speaking are concerned with the plight of refugees from around our world, ideas of belonging, and the depths of the human experience. She holds an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Carleton College, was the 2024 Star Tribune Artist of the Year, and is a Guggenheim Fellow. Kao Kalia Yang lives in St. Paul, Minnesota with her family.

David Michaels, PhD, MPH, Professor of Environmental & Occupational Health, Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University
2026-07-28 09:15 | Hurlbut Church sanctuary, Hurlbut Church sanctuary

Stephanie Elizondo Griest
2026-07-28 10:45 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Stephanie Elizondo Griest is a globetrotting author from the Texas-Mexico borderlands. Currently a professor of creative nonfiction at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, she has performed on five continents in capacities ranging from a Moth storyteller to a literary ambassador for the U.S. State Department.
Her six books include Around the Bloc: My Life in Moscow, Beijing, and Havana; Mexican Enough; All the Agents and Saints; and Art Above Everything: One Woman’s Global Exploration of the Joys and Torments of a Creative Life. Widely anthologized, Elizondo Griest has written for The New York Times, Washington Post, The Believer, BBC, Orion, VQR, and Oxford American, among others.
Griest’s work has won a Margolis Award for Social Justice Reporting, an International Latino Book Award, a PEN Southwest Book Award and two Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism prizes. She has been supported by the Henry Luce Foundation, Lannan Foundation, and the Hodder Fellowship at Princeton University.

Todd Paglia, CEO Stand.Earth: Delivering large-scale solutions to climate and environmental problems worldwide
2026-07-28 12:30 | Smith Wilkes Hall, Smith Wilkes Hall

Chautauqua Theater Company Presents Best for Baby (Live Audio Descriptions)
2026-07-28 16:00 | Bratton Theater, Bratton Theater

School of Music Piano Faculty Recital: Sara Davis Buechner
2026-07-28 16:00 | Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall, Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall
Noted for her musical command, cosmopolitan artistry, and visionary independence, Sara Davis Buechner is one of the most original concert pianists of our time. Lauded for her “intelligence, integrity and all-encompassing technical prowess” (New York Times), “thoughtful artistry in the full service of music” (Washington Post), and “astounding virtuosity” (Philippine Star), Japan’s InTune magazine sums it up: “Buechner has no superior.”
Ms. Buechner has performed in every state and province of North America — as recitalist, chamber musician and soloist with top orchestras like the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony and Philadelphia Orchestra; and in venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center and the Hollywood Bowl. She is also a much sought after professor at Temple University’s Boyer College of Music and Dance.

CVA Lecture Series: Glenn Goldberg, School of Art Faculty
2026-07-28 18:30 | CVA: Large Drawing Room
The Chautauqua School of Art proudly welcomes Glenn Goldberg as a member of our 2026 visiting faculty. Glenn Goldberg will participate in the School’s Summer Lecture Series, sharing insights and practices with our artistic community.
Glenn Goldberg was born in the Bronx in 1953 and attended the New York Studio School and Queens College during his undergraduate education. He later continued his graduate studies at Queens College to receive his MFA. In 1996 he was named the Heilman Artist and since has received grants from The Guggenheim Foundation, The Edward Albee Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, and The Joan Mitchell Foundation. Goldberg’s work has been shown extensively throughout the US and internationally, and is held in numerous collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Academy of Arts and Letters, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, among others. Goldberg has taught at various institutions including The Cooper Union, NY Studio School, Brandeis University, Queens College, Parsons School of Design, and Lodestar School of Art in Ireland. He has also been a panelist and visiting artist for MFA painting programs at Yale, Columbia, Boston University, American University, Hunter College, and others. In 2023, Goldberg was commissioned to create a public arts project at the E. 149th St subway station in the Bronx by the New York MTA Arts and Design Commission. Goldberg lives and works in New York City.

Opera & Pops Concert with CSO
2026-07-28 20:00 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Stuart Chafetz, conductor
Chautauqua Opera Company Apprentice and Studio Artists join Stuart Chafetz, Principal Pops Conductor, and the Chautauqua
Symphony Orchestra for the annual Opera & Pops concert. This popular summer event showcases Chautauqua Opera’s young artists in music from Opera, Operetta and Broadway.

Natalie Merchant
2026-07-29 10:45 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Natalie Merchant has earned recognition among America’s most respected recording artists, drawing audiences with her captivating performances and intentional songwriting over her 40-year career. Her music blends folk, rock and world music influences, and she continues to be regarded as a pioneering figure in alternative music. She joins the Chautauqua Lecture Series during our week on “Art and Artists Against the Odds” to speak on her passion for arts education for young people.
Her latest record, “Keep Your Courage” (released in 2023 on Nonesuch Records), finds Merchant in peak form. The album dives into love and human connection in its many forms—with Merchant’s voice to keep you hanging on every word.
Merchant has also distinguished herself as a social justice and environmental activist through her work with a wide variety of non-profit organizations, and by creating documentary films and large-scale community arts projects.
Merchant began her musical career as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the pop music band 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 and released two platinum and four gold records with the group. She left the band in 1993 and has subsequently released nine albums as a solo artist with combined sales of seven million copies.
In 2007, Merchant was appointed by Governor Elliot Spitzer to serve on the New York State Council on the Arts, and in 2022 Senator Chuck Schumer appointed her to the board of trustees of The American Folklife Center at The Library of Congress. Merchant’s awards for artistic excellence and philanthropic work include: the ASCAP Champion Award, The Library Lion Award from the New York Public Library and The John Lennon Real Love Award. In 2025 the National Head Start Association made Merchant their national artist-in-residence.
A few days following her lecture, at 3 p.m. on Sunday, August 2, 2026, Merchant will be joined by the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra for a free family concert, “Cabinet of Wonder Live!” Under the baton of Principal Pops Conductor Stuart Chafetz, the concert will be a joyful reimagining of Mother Goose developed in collaboration with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and will also include classic children’s poetry that she adapted to music for her highly praised double-album release, Leave Your Sleep.

Natalie Wigg-Stevenson
2026-07-29 14:00 | Hall of Philosophy, Hall of Philosophy
Natalie Wigg-Stevenson is a theologian, minister, author and associate professor of contextual education at Emmanuel College (Victoria University, University of Toronto). Natalie brings to her teaching a spirit of play alongside rigorous theological thinking and deep pastoral attentiveness.
Based out of Toronto, she is the author of Ethnographic Theology: An Inquiry into the Production of Theological Knowledge and Transgressive Devotion: Theology as Performance Art, as well as numerous scholarly articles. A creative non-fiction writer, she is a frequent contributor to Sojourners Magazine and has created the open-access, interactive devotional website, Transgressive Devotional.

Chautauqua Arts Education 101: Panel Discussion
2026-07-29 15:30 | Smith Wilkes Hall, Smith Wilkes Hall
Chautauqua Arts Education programs serve thousands of students and hundreds of teachers each year in Chautauqua County, carrying out Chautauqua Institution’s mission through empowering students to learn about their world and themselves through the arts. Director of Arts Education Suzanne Fassett-Wright and Vice President of Performing and Visual Arts Laura Savia will be joined by local educators in a panel discussion to share how Chautauqua Institution is working in collaboration with our community to support student growth through increased engagement with arts experiences.

Film and Filmmaker Talk: Emmy Award-Winning "We Are All Plastic People Now" with Rory Fielding
2026-07-29 16:30 | Chautauqua Cinema, Chautauqua Cinema

Chautauqua School of Dance presents: "Wuthering Heights"
2026-07-29 20:00 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Directed and Choreographed by Sasha Janes, Bonnefoux McBride Artistic Director of Chautauqua School of Dance
On the wild, windswept moors of Yorkshire, this ballet adaptation of Wuthering Heights brings to life the haunting story of Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw—two souls bound by a fierce, unbreakable love that defies class, reason, and even death. Through powerful movement and evocative music, passion turns to obsession and betrayal ignites a ruthless quest for revenge, leaving a legacy of heartbreak and longing. Dark, powerful, and unforgettable, this ballet captures the raw intensity of Emily Brontë’s timeless tale of love at its most destructive.
This ballet will showcase both former and current students of the Chautauqua School of Dance.
Contains suggestive content; not recommended for children under 13.
Photo Credit: Victoria Bastian

Rev. Zina Jacque
2026-07-30 09:15 | Hall of Philosophy, Hall of Philosophy

Micah Hendler
2026-07-30 10:45 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Micah Hendler is the founder and artistic director of the Jerusalem Youth Chorus (JYC), an Israeli-Palestinian music and dialogue project he has brought from a dream to the global stages of TED and “America’s Got Talent” to The New York Times and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” JYC’s work and mission will frame Hendler’s contributions to the Chautauqua Lecture Series weeklong celebration of “Art and Artists Against the Odds.”
Through the co-creation of music and the sharing of stories, JYC empowers young singers from East and West Jerusalem to speak and sing their truths as they become leaders in their communities and inspire singers and listeners around the world to join them in their work for peace, justice, inclusion and equality. Even in times of war, JYC continues to meet, and its singers’ commitment to each other, and the power of their voices raised in harmony, has only grown. In addition to his ongoing bridge-building work in Jerusalem, Hendler has brought his JYC experience to the U.S. and around the world, collaborating with several organizations working to depolarize America (including Braver Angels, the One America Movement, Convergence, New Pluralists, and Constructive Dialogue Institute), and global organizations including the United Nations, Abu Dhabi Festival, El Sistema Greece, and the first World Congress of Music and Social Change.
Hendler has a degree in music and international studies from Yale and has decades of musical experience from different global traditions. He has also been involved in dialogue work for 20 years and has written and presented in many local and global fora about his work with JYC. Selected for the Forbes “30 Under 30” list for Music in 2017, Hendler has written extensively for Forbes.com on music, society and social change in a global context, using this platform to uplift marginalized voices that are not often heard in mainstream media. He currently lives in Washington, D.C., where he leads regular community sings.

Chautauqua Theater Company Presents New Play Workshop 2: The Motions by Zora Howard
2026-07-30 14:00, 2026-07-31 14:00, 2026-08-01 14:00 | Bratton Theater, Bratton Theater
The Motions by Zora Howard
A CTC Commission

Micah Hendler
2026-07-30 14:00 | Hall of Philosophy, Hall of Philosophy

Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra: Sounds of Strauss
2026-07-30 20:00 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Rossen Milanov, conductor
The Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra presents two of Richard Strauss’s most compelling tone poems. In Also sprach Zarathustra, Strauss explores themes of human striving and philosophical inquiry. Death and Transfiguration offers a contrasting perspective, portraying the final moments of an artist’s life and the transformation that follows. Together, these works showcase Strauss’s extraordinary command of orchestral color and dramatic form.
Program:
Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra, op. 30
Strauss: Death and Transfiguration, op. 24

Fredrik Backman
2026-07-31 10:45 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Fredrik Backman is the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, Britt-Marie Was Here, Beartown, Us Against You, Anxious People, and The Winners. In 2025, he released his latest book, My Friends, which features an unforgettably funny, deeply moving tale of four teenagers whose friendship creates a bond so powerful that it changes a complete stranger’s life 25 years later. It is this tale of the transformative, timeless power of friendship and art that frames this capstone presentation of the Chautauqua Lecture Series week on “Art and Artists Against the Odds.” This program is presented in collaboration with the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, and My Friends is a 2026 CLSC selection.
Backman has also written two novellas and one work of nonfiction. His books are published in more than 40 countries. In 2021, he engaged with the Chautauqua audience through its online platform to speak about his novel, Anxious People. That Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle book selection explores the nature of humanity through the lens of comedy and failed bank robbers.

Tessa Hulls
2026-07-31 14:00 | Hall of Philosophy, Hall of Philosophy
Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle — Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir by Tessa Hulls
An astonishing, deeply moving graphic memoir about three generations of Chinese women, exploring love, grief, exile, and identity.
In her acclaimed graphic memoir debut, Tessa Hulls traces the reverberations of Chinese history across three generations of women in her family. Tessa’s grandmother, Sun Yi, was a Shanghai journalist swept up by the turmoil of the 1949 Communist victory. After fleeing to Hong Kong, she wrote a bestselling memoir about her persecution and survival—then promptly had a mental breakdown from which she never recovered.
Growing up with Sun Yi, Tessa watches both her mother and grandmother struggle beneath the weight of unexamined trauma and mental illness, and bolts to the most remote corners of the globe. But once she turns thirty, roaming begins to feel less like freedom and more like running away. Feeding Ghosts is Tessa’s homecoming, a vivid, heartbreaking journey into history that exposes the fear and trauma that haunt generations, and the love that holds them together.
Tessa Hulls is an artist/writer/adventurer illuminating the connections between the present and the past. Her graphic memoir Feeding Ghosts explores the reverberations of her Chinese grandmother’s escape from the Communist regime and her subsequent mental illness. Her work addresses racial justice, the immigrant experience, generational trauma, mental health, the creative process, and the surprising feminist history of the bicycle. Her graphic memoir Feeding Ghosts has earned the Pulitzer Prize, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize for First Book, 2024 Libby Award and was named a Best Book of 2024 by Time, Forbes, NPR, the Minnesota Star Tribune, LitHub, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Chicago Public Library and others.

School of Music: Opera Conservatory Sing-Out
2026-07-31 14:00 | Fletcher Music Hall, Fletcher Music Hall

Film & Filmmaker Talk: Emmy Award-Winning "Descent: Into the Blue" with Rory Fielding
2026-07-31 16:30 | Chautauqua Cinema, Chautauqua Cinema

Old First Night Race
2026-08-01 07:30 | Sports Club, Sports Club
The Sports Club is hosting the popular 50th Annual Old First Night Run/Walk Race and Kids Fun Runs. The OFN 2.75 mile chip-timed race follows the perimeter of Chautauqua’s beautiful grounds. This year we will also host two kids races – a 1 mile non-chip timed race and little kids short fun run. Kids hats included with race registration. If you are not on the grounds August 1, you can participate in the virtual Around the World race. Race registration includes t-shirt. Sign up at oldfirstnight.com. Questions? Contact sportsclub@chq.org

Chautauqua Theater Company Presents FutureNow New Play Lab 1: The Bone Wars
2026-08-01 11:00 | Roe Green Theater Center
Experience new plays the moment they come to life. The FutureNow new play labs showcase original work by CTC’s inaugural class of Playwriting Fellows in collaboration with our Directing Fellows — a program developed through CTC’s newly expanded partnership with The Drama League — and brought to life in public, staged, and designed workshop readings.
Performed by CTC’s Acting Conservatory and shaped by our Design Fellows, these student workshops mark CTC’s first ticketed performances in the Roe Green Theater Center. With more artists, more fellows and more new work than ever before, audiences are invited inside the creative process as the next generation of theater makers brings fresh stories to life.

Dolly Parton's Threads: My Songs in Symphony with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra
2026-08-01 20:00 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Dolly Parton’s Threads: My Songs in Symphony features Dolly’s songs and the stories behind them in an innovative multimedia symphonic experience featuring Dolly on screen, leading audiences in a visual-musical journey of her songs, her life, and her stories. Guest vocalists and musicians bring new and innovative orchestrations of Dolly’s hit songs together into a full-evening multimedia symphonic story-telling experience. Dolly Parton says, “The threads of my life are woven together through my songs. That’s why this project, Threads: My Songs in Symphony, is so special to me. It’s all about sharing my music and my musical journey with audiences in a new way.”
Co-produced by Dolly Parton together with Schirmer Theatrical and Sony Music Publishing.
Please Note: Dolly Parton is not performing or attending this event.

Art in the Park
2026-08-02 08:00 | Miller Park, Miller Park
Hosted by the Friends of CVA, Art in the Park is an open art fair with 70+ vendors held in Miller Park, showcasing art by members of the Chautauqua community, artists-in-residence from the School of Art, and artisans from the region around Chautauqua Institution. Items for sale include ceramics, paintings, prints, Chautauqua-themed trinkets, pieces made of up-cycled materials, homemade soaps, hand-dyed silk clothing, organic cosmetics, embellished handbags and fine jewelry. Art in the Park markets are always planned for Sundays, when admission to the grounds is free, so the markets can be accessible for Institution residents and members of the surrounding community alike.
For artist registration information, visit: https://art.chq.org/friends-of-cva/art-in-the-park/

Unitarian Universalist Service
2026-08-02 09:30 | Hall of Philosophy, Hall of Philosophy

Rev. Anna Carter Florence
2026-08-02 10:45, 2026-08-03 09:15, 2026-08-04 09:15, 2026-08-05 09:15 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
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 as an associate pastor for youth and young adults at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis. Based on her 2012 Lyman Beecher Lectures on Preaching at Yale Divinity School is her first book, Preaching as Testimony, Inscribing the Word, Rehearsing Scripture: Discovering God’s Word in Community. Florence’s most recent title, A Is for Alabaster: 52 Reflections on the Stories of Scripture, has a forthcoming sequel titled, B Is for Banquet: 52 More Reflections on the Stories of Scripture. She has published articles and chapters in numerous books and journals, including a year’s worth of lectionary text commentaries for WorkingPreacher.org.
Florence is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and holds a Bachelor of Arts from Yale University as well as a Master in Divinity and Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary.

Kosher BBQ & Klezmer Band
2026-08-02 11:30 | Miller Park, Miller Park

Cabinet of Wonder Live! A Free Family Concert with Natalie Merchant & The Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra
2026-08-02 15:00 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Stuart Chafetz, Conductor
Natalie Merchant, Composer and Vocals
American singer-songwriter, recording artist, and activist Natalie Merchant will be in residence at Chautauqua Institution this summer (July 25-August 2, 2026) for Week Five’s programmatic theme, “Art & Artists Against the Odds.”
Merchant will give a matinee family-friendly concert performance with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Principal Pops Conductor Stuart Chafetz, which will be free to the public. The concert will center on the music of Merchants’ Cabinet of Wonder, a joyful reimagining of Mother Goose developed in collaboration with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and will also include classic children’s poetry that she adapted to music for her highly praised double-album release, Leave Your Sleep (2010 Nonesuch Records).
A Chautauqua County native, Merchant was strongly influenced by local artists and her summer encounters with arts at the Institution during her formative years. At the age of fifteen, she spent a summer volunteering in a therapeutic arts camp for developmentally and physically challenged children in Ashville. It was there that she first witnessed the transformative power of art education and was inspired to become an art therapist. Although her life path led her to a career as professional musician, she has continued to honor her commitment to the healing power of music. Merchant will combine her performances on the grounds of Chautauqua site visits to locally sponsored children’s programs for workshops and sing-a-longs. Since leaving the area in 1988, she has returned several times over the years to perform solo and with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra.
Merchant will also appear in the Chautauqua Lecture Series on July 29th at 10:45am; her talk will focus on her life-long commitment to using music as powerful means of communication, community building, and a tool for social justice.

Ken Burns and Jeffrey Rosen
2026-08-03 10:45, 2026-08-04 10:45 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
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 – alongside world-renowned leaders in historical education. To begin this weeklong commemoration, Chautauqua welcomes Ken Burns and Jeffrey Rosen back to the Amphitheater stage for a two-day conversation on themes and threads from the pair’s latest projects: for Burns, the November 2025 PBS documentary “The American Revolution,” and for Rosen, his October 2025 book The Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton and Jefferson Ignited the Lasting Battle Over Power in America.
Ken Burns has been making documentary films for almost fifty years. Since the Academy Award nominated “Brooklyn Bridge” in 1981, Burns has gone on to direct and produce some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made, including “The Civil War”; “Baseball”; “Jazz”; “The War”; “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea”; “Prohibition”; “The Roosevelts: An Intimate History”; “The Vietnam War”; “Country Music”; “The U.S. and the Holocaust”; “The American Buffalo”; and “Leonardo da Vinci.”
Burns’s newest release is “The American Revolution” which premiered on November 16, 2025. Future film projects include “Emancipation to Exodus” and “LBJ & the Great Society,” among others.
Burns’s films have been honored with dozens of major awards, including seventeen Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards and two Oscar nominations. In September of 2008, at the News & Documentary Emmy Awards, Burns was honored by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences with a Lifetime Achievement Award. In November of 2022, Burns was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame.
Jeffrey Rosen is chief executive officer emeritus of the National Constitution Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization whose mission is to educate the public about the U.S. Constitution. His latest book, The Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton and Jefferson Ignited the Lasting Battle Over Power in America, was released in October 2025. It highlights how the opposing constitutional visionaries continue to drive the debate over the power of government today. Rosen appeared as part of the 2025 Chautauqua Forum on Democracy, where he was publicly announced and recognized for the first time as the newly appointed 2025–26 Chautauqua Perry Fellow in Democracy.
Rosen is currently a professor of law at the George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor of The Atlantic. He was previously the legal affairs editor of The New Republic and a staff writer for The New Yorker. In his former role at the National Constitution Center, he was the host of “We the People,” a weekly podcast of constitutional debate.
Rosen is the author of seven other books, including the New York Times bestseller Conversations with RBG: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Life, Love, Liberty, and Law, as well as biographies of Louis Brandeis and William Howard Taft. He is a graduate of Harvard College; Oxford University, where he was a Marshall Scholar; and Yale Law School.

Masters Series Masterclass: A Conversation with Ken Burns
2026-08-03 15:30 | Norton Hall, Norton Hall
Join Ken Burns for an in-depth conversation about his latest work, “The American Revolution.” A filmmaker for almost 50 years, Burns will expand upon his morning lecture on the Amphitheater stage. An opportunity for Q & A, patrons can ask about Burns’ awards, career, research and future plans.

Chautauqua Chamber Music: Ruckus with Keir GoGwilt, violin
2026-08-03 16:00 | Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall, Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall
Experience the electrifying energy of Ruckus, a boundary-pushing baroque ensemble redefining early music performance. With virtuosic flair and a fresh, improvisatory spirit, Ruckus brings 17th- and 18th-century works vividly to life. Their performances blend historical authenticity with modern vitality, creating concerts that feel both timeless and daringly new. Don’t miss this exuberant celebration of baroque music at its most alive and joyful.

Chautauqua School of Dance with the Music School Festival Orchestra
2026-08-03 20:00 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Chautauqua School of Dance presents an outstanding mixed repertoire evening of new and established works, masterfully performed by the Music Student Festival Orchestra. This performance will feature the most exceptional young talent in the country. Under the leadership of Sasha Janes, the school continues its long tradition of excellence as a top-tier summer training program focused on bringing the next generation of dance stars from the studio to the stage.
Comprised of top-tier students from conservatories and universities in the U.S. and abroad, Music School Festival Orchestra members participate in a variety of musical activities during their summers at Chautauqua including chamber music and private lessons along with their meticulous orchestral training. Alumni from the MSFO can be heard in many of the world’s top orchestras and chamber ensembles and can be found on music faculties worldwide. The MSFO is led by Artistic Director Timothy Muffitt, who serves as Music Director of the Lansing Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Laureate of the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra.

Judi Greewald, Former US EPA radiation effects expert
2026-08-04 09:15 | Hurlbut Church sanctuary, Hurlbut Church sanctuary

Sigrid Jakob: "Fruiting Bodies and Big Ideas: a Citizen Science Adventure"
2026-08-04 12:30 | Smith Wilkes Hall, Smith Wilkes Hall

Manisha Sinha
2026-08-04 14:00 | Hall of Philosophy, Hall of Philosophy
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. A Guggenheim fellow for 2022-2023, she has received several other fellowships from the NEH and the Mellon foundation. She is the author of The Counterrevolution of Slavery: Politics and Ideology in Antebellum South Carolina which was cited in the New York Times’ 1619 project and named one of the ten best books on slavery in Politico. She is also the author of the multi award winning The Slave’s Cause: A History of Abolition, which was long listed for the National Book Award for Non-Fiction and translated into Chinese in 2025. She taught at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst for over twenty years where she received the Chancellor’s Medal, the highest honor bestowed on faculty. She was a visiting Professor at the University of Paris, Diderot in 2018 and at the University of Heidelberg in 2022, where she received the 2021 Pennington award. She has published widely in the mainstream press, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Review of Books, The Times Literary Supplement, The Boston Globe, and The Nation, to name a few and has been interviewed in the national and international press. Her recent book The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic: Reconstruction, 1860-1920 won the President’s Book Prize from the Society for Historians of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era in 2026.

Puppy Pals Live - The Action-Packed Comedic Stunt Dog Show
2026-08-04 19:30 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
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 laugh-out-loud canine comedy, it is no surprise this show has been a hit all over the USA!

David W. Blight and Tiya Miles
2026-08-05 10:45 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
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 Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University. In 2020, Yale President Peter Salovey appointed him as chair of the Yale and Slavery Working Group. With his Working Group colleagues, Blight authored the book Yale and Slavery: A History, a narrative study of Yale’s historic involvement and associations with slavery and its aftermaths, published by Yale University Press in February of 2024.
Blight is the immediate past president of the Organization of American Historians. He previously taught at North Central College in Illinois, Harvard University and Amherst College. He is the author or editor of a dozen books, including Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom; American Oracle: The Civil War in the Civil Rights Era; Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory; and annotated editions of Douglass’s first two autobiographies. Blight has worked on Douglass much of his professional life, and been awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Bancroft Prize, the Abraham Lincoln Prize, and the Frederick Douglass Prize, among others. He writes frequently for the popular press, including The Atlantic, The New York Times, and many other journals.
In 2020, Blight was elected to the American Philosophical Society and awarded the Gold Medal for History by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. At the beginning of his career, he spent seven years as a high school history teacher in his hometown of Flint, Michigan.
Tiya Miles is a public historian and the author of eight books that explore Black, Indigenous and women’s history; place and environment; and contemporary uses of the past. These works include four prize-winning histories and one prize-winning novel about slavery and its legacies. Her 2021 National Book Award winner, All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake, was a New York Times bestseller that won eleven historical and literary prizes.
Miles’ latest work is Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People, which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography. Her other books include Wild Girls: How the Outdoors Shaped the Women Who Challenged a Nation; The Dawn of Detroit: A Chronicle of Slavery and Freedom in the City of the Straits; The House on Diamond Hill: A Cherokee Plantation Story; Ties That Bind: The Story of an Afro-Cherokee Family in Slavery and Freedom; Tales from the Haunted South: Dark Tourism and Memories of Slavery from the Civil War Era; and the novel The Cherokee Rose.
Miles publishes frequently in national periodicals, and her work has been supported by the MacArthur Foundation (“genius award”), the Guggenheim Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and she currently serves as the Michael Garvey Professor of History at Harvard University.

Cliff Fleet
2026-08-05 14:00 | Hall of Philosophy, Hall of Philosophy
Cliff Fleet has served as president and CEO of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation since 2020 and is an adjunct professor at the William and Mary Raymond A. Mason School of Business. He currently co-chairs the Hampton Roads Executive Roundtable and serves on the boards of the Hollins University, the Virginia Business Higher Education Council, and Virginia Growth and Opportunity.
He retired as the president and CEO of Philip Morris USA in 2017 after a multi-decade career at the Altria family of companies where he held senior leadership roles in marketing, business development, strategy, operations, investor relations, and sales. Previously, Fleet served as Chair of the William and Mary Foundation as well as the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation.
Fleet has earned four degrees from William and Mary including a bachelor’s degree in history and religion, a master’s degree in history, a Master of Business Administration and Juris Doctor. He also has a graduate degree in education from the University of Virginia.

Dance Preview: Alonzo King "LINES"
2026-08-05 18:15 | Smith Wilkes Hall, Smith Wilkes Hall
Chautauqua Dance Circle-Anita Lin
alin@chqdancecircle.org

Alonzo King LINES Ballet
2026-08-05 19:30 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
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. Its unique artistic vision adheres to the classical form — the linear, mathematical and geometrical principles that are deeply rooted in the pre-existing East-West continuum.

Rev. Anna Carter Florence
2026-08-06 09:15 | Hall of Philosophy, Hall of Philosophy

Chautauqua Opera Company Workshop: Anne of Green Gables
2026-08-06 15:15 | Fletcher Music Hall, Fletcher Music Hall
Chautauqua Opera Company will host the first workshops of a new adaptation of Anne of Green Gables by composer Danika Lorèn and librettist Royce Vavrek (Lincoln in the Bardo). In this bold new reimagining, a fictional reality competition sets out from coast to coast to find the Canadian who most embodies the spirit of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s indelible heroine, Anne Shirley. With Lorèn in residence for the full six-week season, Chautauqua Opera Company’s young artists will collaborate closely on the creation of the first 60 minutes of new music being written for their specific voices. The season will include two public presentations of new music with piano accompaniment, giving Chautauqua audiences a unique opportunity to watch the development of this inventive work.

Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra with Aubree Oliverson, violin
2026-08-06 20:00 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Rossen Milanov, conductor
Aubree Oliverson, violin
Experience an evening of myth, melody, and modernity with The Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra and guest violinist Aubree Oliverson. Missy Mazzoli’s Orpheus Undone reimagines the ancient myth with driving energy and striking orchestral color. Dvořák’s beloved Violin Concerto brings lyrical warmth and Romantic sweep to the spotlight, showcasing Oliverson’s expressive artistry. The program concludes with Kevin Puts’ Concerto for Orchestra, a dazzling display of rhythmic vitality and instrumental flair that highlights the full power of the ensemble.
Program:
Mazzoli: Orpheus Undone
Dvorak: Violin Concerto
Puts: Concerto for Orchestra

Ecumenical Communion Service
2026-08-07 09:15, 2026-08-14 09:15 | Hall of Philosophy, Hall of Philosophy

Robert P. George
2026-08-07 10:45 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Robert P. George is McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and director of the James Madison program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. Currently, he also chairs the New Jersey Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. George is general editor of New Forum Books, a Princeton University Press series of interdisciplinary works in law, culture and politics. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is of counsel to the law firm of Robinson & McElwee. He will help close Chautauqua’s week commemorating “America at 250” with his perspective on the significance of “freedom of conscience” in the American founding and ongoing experiment.
George has frequently been a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, teaching philosophy of law and related subjects. In addition, he has served as chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, on the President’s Council on Bioethics, as a presidential appointee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights, and as the U.S. member of UNESCO’s World Commission on the Ethics of Science and Technology.
George is the author of several books; his most recent is Seeking Truth and Speaking Truth: Law and Morality in Our Cultural Moment. He has written numerous academic articles and review essays along with pieces for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.
A graduate of Swarthmore College, George holds the degrees of J.D. and MTS from Harvard University and the degrees of PhD, BCL, DCL, and D.Litt. from Oxford University, in addition to 23 honorary doctorates. He is a recipient of the U.S. Presidential Citizens Medal, the Honorific Medal for the Defense of Human Rights of the Republic of Poland, the Canterbury Medal of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, and Princeton University’s President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching.

Caitlyn Kaminga's "Imaginals": A musical exploration of a safe climate future
2026-08-07 12:30 | Smith Wilkes Hall, Smith Wilkes Hall
Caitlyn Kaminga’s “Imaginals”

Laurie Halse Anderson and Adrian Matejka
2026-08-07 14:00 | Hall of Philosophy, Hall of Philosophy
Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle – Rebellion 1776 by Laurie Halse Anderson and Be Easy: New & Selected Poems by Adrian Matejka
Laurie Halse Anderson and Adrian Matejka will join us in conversation in a joint CLSC Author Presentation on Friday, August 7, 2026, in the Hall of Philosophy. Reading Be Easy: New & Selected Poems by Adrian Matejka alongside Rebellion 1776 by Laurie Halse Anderson creates a powerful conversation about race, resistance, and the meaning of freedom in America. Together, the books highlight how the promises of liberty in 1776 were unevenly distributed and how the struggle for dignity and self-definition continues across centuries. In dialogue, they invite readers to question who freedom was—and is—for, and how rebellion can be both a public act and a deeply personal one.
Rebellion 1776
From New York Times bestselling author Laurie Halse Anderson comes an “thoroughly researched, emotionally resonant” (Booklist, starred review) historical fiction middle grade adventure about a girl struggling to survive amid a smallpox epidemic, the public’s fear of inoculation, and the seething Revolutionary War.
In the spring of 1776, thirteen-year-old Elsbeth Culpepper wakes to the sound of cannons. It’s the Siege of Boston, the Patriots’ massive drive to push the Loyalists out that turns the city into a chaotic war zone. Elsbeth’s father—her only living relative—has gone missing, leaving her alone and adrift in a broken town while desperately seeking employment to avoid the orphanage.
Just when things couldn’t feel worse, the smallpox epidemic sweeps across Boston. Now, Bostonians must fight for their lives against an invisible enemy in addition to the visible one. Elsbeth, who had smallpox as a small child and is now immune, finds work taking care of a large, wealthy family with discord of their own as they await a turn at inoculation, but as the epidemic and the revolution rage on, will she find her father? This book will serve as a joint CLSC and CLSC Young Reader selection.
Laurie Halse Anderson is a New York Times bestselling author known for tackling tough subjects with humor and sensitivity. She’s twice been a National Book Award finalist, for Chains and Speak; Chains also received the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction. Laurie was chosen for the 2009 Margaret A. Edwards Award and received the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2023, presented to her by the Crown Princess of Sweden. She lives in Pennsylvania, and you can follow her adventures on X @HalseAnderson or visit her at MadWomanintheForest.com.
Be Easy: New & Selected Poems
Revered for his “patient, clever, controlled, [and] visionary” (Hanif Abdurraquib) poems, Adrian Matejka has been a mainstay of contemporary American poetry for over two decades. Gathering hits from six extraordinary collections, Be Easy showcases his singular sonics and narrative vision in fresh, dynamic poems that lyrically complicate place, race, and identity.
Traversing the Midwest from Indianapolis to Chicago, new poems explore the twitchy unease of unintentional migration and economic instability as the country faces a future every bit as unsettling and circus-like as parking lot carnivals of the poet’s childhood. Selections from Mixology (2008)—“a post-soul tour de force” (Kevin Young)—reverberate with the rhythm of ’80s hip-hop, while “revelatory” (Gabrielle Calvocoressi) odes from Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist The Big Smoke (2013) reimagine the legacy of prizefighter Jack Johnson and transcendent poems from Map to the Stars (2017) brim with cosmic jazz.
Matejka’s smooth lyricism flows into a singular, indispensable collection of memories lost and found again. Tracing the continuum of a “rocket-powered” (Campbell McGrath) writer, Be Easy affirms Matejka as one of the most exciting voices of our time.
Adrian Matejka is the author of six poetry collections and the graphic novel Last on His Feet. He has been nominated for the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize, served as the poet laureate of the state of Indiana from 2018–2019, and is editor–in–chief of Poetry magazine. He lives in Chicago.

Chautauqua Opera Company Orchestral Workshop: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
2026-08-07 15:15 | Norton Hall, Norton Hall
In Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead Grammy award-winning composer and librettist Herschel Garfein has created the first ever operatic adaptation of a play by Tom Stoppard. Chautauqua Opera Company’s young artists will be joined by internationally heralded baritone Keith Phares and the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra for a ten-day workshop of the complete opera, which concludes with a public presentation of excerpts and panel discussion with Garfein and Phares. Reviewing excerpts presented at Fort Worth Opera’s Frontiers Festival, the Wall Street Journal said, “composer-librettist Herschel Garfein set the diamond-bright dialogue of the Tom Stoppard play with clarity and wit, heightening the comedy through skillful ensemble writing and characterization.”

Chautauqua Theater Company Presents How I Learned What I Learned
2026-08-07 18:00, 2026-08-09 14:00, 2026-08-09 18:00, 2026-08-11 18:00, 2026-08-12 18:00, 2026-08-13 18:00, 2026-08-14 18:00, 2026-08-16 14:00 and 1 more date | Bratton Theater, Bratton Theater
By August Wilson
Directed by Jade King Carroll
Bratton Theater
August Wilson’s celebrated classic solo piece is an autobiographical tour de force that follows Wilson’s journey through the streets of Pittsburgh’s Hill District — through artistic awakenings, odd jobs and heartbreaks — capturing the moments that forged his identity. From the hustle of his early days to the love affair that almost got him killed, Wilson weaves his youth into a series of deliciously compelling stories. With his trademark wit, lyricism, and truth-telling, he invites audiences into the dynamic world that shaped both the man and the master storyteller he became.

Chautauqua Theater Company Presents How I Learned What I Learned (Pick-Your-Price)
2026-08-08 16:00 | Bratton Theater, Bratton Theater

Alonzo King LINES Ballet with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra
2026-08-08 19:30 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
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. Its unique artistic vision adheres to the classical form — the linear, mathematical and geometrical principles that are deeply rooted in the pre-existing East-West continuum. The Company brings two separate programs to the Amphitheater, with Saturday’s program featuring live music from the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra under the baton of music director Rossen Milanov.

The Rev. Frank A. Thomas
2026-08-09 10:45, 2026-08-11 09:15, 2026-08-12 09:15 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
The Rev. Frank A. Thomas currently serves as the Director of the Compelling Preaching Initiative and the Nettie Sweeney and Hugh Th. Miller Professor of Homiletics at Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis, Indiana. For many years, Thomas has also taught preaching to doctoral and master’s level students at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, Memphis Theological Seminary in Memphis, Tennessee, and United Theological Seminary of Dayton, Ohio. With a long history of excellence in preaching and preaching method, Thomas was inducted into the prestigious Martin Luther King Jr. Board of Preachers of Morehouse College in 2003. Thomas also serves as a member of the International Board of Societas Homiletica, an international society of teachers of preaching.
Thomas is the author of several books including, The God of the Dangerous Sermon, Surviving a Dangerous Sermon, How to Preach a Dangerous Sermon, and Introduction to the Practice of African American Preaching. He also co-edited the anthology Preaching with Sacred Fire: An Anthology of African American Sermons 1750 to the Present. Thomas is also the author of several other books on subjects from matters of prayer to spiritual maturity.
Previously, Thomas served with distinction as the senior pastor for two remarkable congregations: New Faith Baptist Church of Matteson, Illinois and Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church of Memphis, Tennessee.
Thomas holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Communications from the University of Memphis, a Doctor of Divinity from Christian Theological Seminary and Doctor of Ministry degrees from Chicago Theological Seminary and United Theological Seminary. He also holds a Master of Fine Arts from Alma College, Master of Divinity from Chicago Theological Seminary and a Master of Arts from Northeastern Illinois University.

Thr Rev. Frank A. Thomas
2026-08-10 09:15 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater

Nancy Youssef
2026-08-10 10:45 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Nancy Youssef is a staff writer at The Atlantic. Before that, she was a longtime national security correspondent for The Wall Street Journal and also worked at BuzzFeed News and The Daily Beast. Youssef spent much of her career at McClatchy Newspapers where she served as national security correspondent and Middle East bureau chief based in Cairo covering the Middle East and the Islamic world. Prior to that she was McClatchy’s chief Pentagon correspondent, focusing on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. She traveled frequently to those two nations to see how the policies crafted in Washington reached Afghans, Iraqis and the troops alike. She is also the founder of the Pentagon Press Association.
Before covering the Pentagon, Youssef spent four years covering the Iraq war, including a stint as Baghdad bureau chief. Her pieces focused on the everyday Iraqi experience, civilian casualties and how U.S. military strategy was reshaping Iraq’s social and political dynamics. She began her career at the Detroit Free Press, covering legal issues. While at the Free Press, she traveled throughout Jordan and Iraq for Knight Ridder, covering the Iraq war from the time leading up to it through the post-war period. Her journalism career started at The Baltimore Sun.
A Washington, D.C.-area native, Youssef earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from University of Virginia and master’s degree in security studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Youssef’s parents are from Egypt, and she speaks Arabic. Throughout her life, she has been a frequent visitor to the region. She is currently based in Washington, D.C. and is an advocate for supporting neurodiverse children.

Chautauqua Chamber Music: JACK Quartet
2026-08-10 16:00 | Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall, Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall
Join the groundbreaking JACK Quartet for a concert of fearless innovation and extraordinary musicianship. Renowned for their precision, passion, and adventurous programming, JACK champions new works that redefine the possibilities of the string quartet. Their performances are both intellectually bold and emotionally gripping, inviting listeners into the cutting edge of contemporary music. Experience why JACK Quartet is hailed as one of the most influential ensembles of its generation.

Meghan Collins: Locally specific climate projections for the Chautauqua region
2026-08-11 09:15 | Hurlbut Church sanctuary, Hurlbut Church sanctuary

Jessamine Finch, Atlanta Botanical Garden: "Wild Seeds in a Warming World"
2026-08-11 12:30 | Smith Wilkes Hall, Smith Wilkes Hall

Jeremy Ben-Ami
2026-08-11 14:00 | Hall of Philosophy, Hall of Philosophy
Jeremy Ben-Ami is the president of J Street, bringing to the role both deep experience in American politics and government and a passionate commitment to the state of Israel. Ben-Ami’s family connection to Israel goes back 140 years to the first aliyah when his great-grandparents were among the first settlers in Petah Tikva. His grandparents were one of the founding families of Tel Aviv, and his father was an activist and leader in the Irgun, working for Israel’s independence and on the rescue of European Jews before and during World War II.
Ben-Ami’s political resume includes serving in the mid-1990s as the deputy domestic policy advisor in the White House to President Bill Clinton and working on seven presidential and numerous state and local campaigns, including helping to manage a mayoral campaign in New York City in 2001. For nearly three years in the late ’90s, he lived in Israel, where he started a consulting firm working with Israeli nonprofit organizations and politicians. Ben-Ami received a law degree from New York University and is a graduate of the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.

Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra: Fate and Fury
2026-08-11 20:00 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Hannah Schendel, conductor
Under the baton of Hannah Schendel, The Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra presents a night of symphonic drama. Wagner’s Flying Dutchman Overture surges with storm-tossed intensity, capturing the restless seas and legend of the cursed mariner. Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 follows, unfolding from brooding introspection to triumphant resolve in an emotionally compelling journey. Together, these masterworks showcase the passion, grandeur, and expressive force of the Romantic era.
Program:
Wagner: Flying Dutchman Overture
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5

"Setting the Table: CVA Members Exhibition" August 12–26
2026-08-12 11:00 | Fowler-Kellogg Art Center: 1st Floor
“Setting the Table: CVA Members Exhibition” runs August 12-August 26. Once again, we will feature works by the 2026 CVA Members, who will interpret week eight’s theme, The Future of Food, Climate Technology and the Next Agricultural Revolution. A variety of styles, mediums, and techniques will be shown by these talented artists with their personal thoughts on the future of food.

Chautauqua Theater Company Presents How I Learned What I Learned (Live Audio Descriptions)
2026-08-12 14:00 | Bratton Theater, Bratton Theater

"Setting the Table: CVA Members Exhibition" Opening Reception
2026-08-12 15:00 | Fowler-Kellogg Art Center: 1st Floor
“Setting the Table: CVA Members Exhibition” opening reception. Exhibition runs August 12 – August 26. Once again, we will feature works by the 2026 CVA Members, who will interpret week eight’s theme, The Future of Food, Climate Technology and the Next Agricultural Revolution. A variety of styles, mediums, and techniques will be shown by these talented artists with their personal thoughts on the future of food.

UU Cultural Ethics Series: Fish Stark, Executive Director of the American Humanist Association
2026-08-12 15:30 | Hall of Philosophy, Hall of Philosophy

School of Dance: Student Gala II
2026-08-12 20:00 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Chautauqua School of Dance presents an outstanding mixed repertoire evening of new and established works featuring the most exceptional young talent in the country. Under the leadership of Sasha Janes,
Bonnefoux McBride Artistic Director of Chautauqua School of Dance, the school continues its long tradition of excellence as a top-tier summer training program focused on bringing the next generation of dance stars from the studio to the stage.

The Rev. Frank A. Thomas
2026-08-13 09:15 | Hall of Philosophy, Hall of Philosophy

Miles Yu
2026-08-13 10:45 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Miles Yu is a senior fellow and director of the China Center at Hudson Institute. He is also a professor of East Asia and military and naval history at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Yu specializes in Chinese military and strategic culture, U.S. and Chinese military and diplomatic history, and U.S. policy toward China. He joins Chautauqua’s weeklong exploration of “Global Power and Our Evolving International Order” to offer an up-to-the-minute assessment of the global ambitions and actions of China and other East Asian countries, and how the U.S. and the West are responding.
Previously, Yu served in the first Trump administration as the China policy adviser to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. In that capacity, he advised the secretary on all China-related issues, helped overhaul U.S. policy toward China, and participated in key U.S. government interagency deliberations on major policy and government actions with regard to China and other East Asian countries, including Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
From 2011 to 2016, Yu wrote the weekly column “Inside China” for The Washington Times; since 1996, he has been an editorial consultant to Radio Free Asia, and a contributor to various media outlets including The Wall Street Journal and “PBS News Hour.” His books include OSS in China: Prelude to Cold War and The Dragon’s War: Allied Operations and the Fate of China, 1937–1947. Yu’s numerous awards include the U.S. Naval Academy’s top researcher award, U.S. Navy Special Action Awards, and U.S. Navy Meritorious Service Award. He received a doctorate in history from the University of California, Berkeley, a master’s degree from Swarthmore College, and a bachelor’s degree from Nankai University.

Is the US losing its edge in global clean energy leadership? With Clint Wilder
2026-08-13 12:30 | Alumni Hall Ballroom, Alumni Hall Ballroom
Clint Wilder CCI lecture

Chautauqua Theater Company Presents New Play Workshop 3: As You Like It by William Shakespeare (a musical adaptation)
2026-08-13 14:00, 2026-08-14 14:00, 2026-08-15 14:00 | Bratton Theater, Bratton Theater
As You Like It
by William Shakespeare
Adapted by Peter Andersen
Original score by Bandits on the Run

Rebecca Nagle
2026-08-14 14:00 | Hall of Philosophy, Hall of Philosophy
Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle — By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land
An “impeccably researched” (Washington Post) work of reportage and American history that braids the story of the forced removal of Native Americans onto treaty lands in the nation’s earliest days, and a small-town murder in the 1990s that led to a Supreme Court ruling reaffirming Native rights to that land more than a century later.
Before 2020, American Indian reservations made up roughly 55 million acres of land in the United States. Nearly 200 million acres are reserved for National Forests—in the emergence of this great nation, our government set aside more land for trees than for Indigenous peoples.
In the 1830s Muscogee people were rounded up by the US military at gunpoint and forced into exile halfway across the continent. At the time, they were promised this new land would be theirs for as long as the grass grew and the waters ran. But that promise was not kept. When Oklahoma was created on top of Muscogee land, the new state claimed their reservation no longer existed. Over a century later, a Muscogee citizen was sentenced to death for murdering another Muscogee citizen on tribal land. His defense attorneys argued the murder occurred on the reservation of his tribe, and therefore Oklahoma didn’t have the jurisdiction to execute him. Oklahoma asserted that the reservation no longer existed. In the summer of 2020, the Supreme Court settled the dispute. Its ruling that would ultimately underpin multiple reservations covering almost half the land in Oklahoma, including Nagle’s own Cherokee Nation.
Here Rebecca Nagle recounts the generations-long fight for tribal land and sovereignty in eastern Oklahoma. By chronicling both the contemporary legal battle and historic acts of Indigenous resistance, By the Fire We Carry stands as a landmark work of American history. The story it tells exposes both the wrongs that our nation has committed and the Native-led battle for justice that has shaped our country.
Rebecca Nagle is an award-winning journalist and a citizen of Cherokee Nation. She is the writer and host of the podcast This Land. Her writing on Native representation, federal Indian law, and tribal sovereignty has been featured in the Atlantic, the Washington Post, the Guardian, USA Today, Indian Country Today, and other publications. She is a Peabody Award nominee and the recipient of the American Mosaic Journalism Prize, Women’s Media Center’s Exceptional Journalism Award, and numerous honors from the Native American Journalist Association. Nagle lives in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.
Indigenous communities deserve the same standard of journalism as the rest of the country, but rarely receive it from non-Native media outlets. Nagle’s journalism seeks to correct this.

Chautauqua Theater Company Presents Bratton Late Night
2026-08-14 22:00 | Bratton Theater, Bratton Theater
CTC’s favorite late-night talent showcase! An evening of sketches and songs featuring the extraordinary talents of our 2026 conservatory.

Chautauqua Theater Company Presents How I Learned What I Learned (Live Audio Descriptions & Pick-Your-Price)
2026-08-15 18:00 | Bratton Theater, Bratton Theater

The Music of Billy Joel with Tony DeSare and the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra
2026-08-15 20:00 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Stuart Chafetz, conductor
Tony DeSare, piano & vocals
Tony DeSare’s signature vocal and robust piano style pay tribute to the iconic songs of Billy Joel. Generations of Billy Joel fans will experience full symphonic orchestrations with Tony DeSare’s unique take on some of his most beloved hits including “Only the Good Die Young,” “Piano Man,” “New York State of Mind,” “You May Be Right,” “Movin Out,” “My Life,” “Vienna,” and many more.
Billy Joel does not appear on this program.

The Rev. Natalie Hanson
2026-08-16 10:45, 2026-08-17 09:15, 2026-08-18 09:15, 2026-08-19 09:15 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
The Rev. Natalie Hanson has been a longtime presence at Chautauqua; with her husband, the Rev. James Paul Womack, pastor of Hurlbut Memorial Community United Methodist Church, she has co-hosted the United Methodist Missionary Vacation Home at Chautauqua for several years. Hanson has also served Chautauqua as interim senior pastor in 2022, crafting, planning and evaluating worship services alongside members of the Department of Religion.
She is a clergy member of the United Methodist Church, now retired after 40 years of ministry. Much of that ministry was focused in urban parishes, with eight years serving as a District Superintendent in the Western, then Upper New York Annual Conference. On behalf of the Conference and as an adjunct for Wesley Seminary’s Course of Study, Hanson for several years taught classes on preaching and worship development. She was also Co-Convener and worship developer for the NE Jurisdiction’s Clergywomen’s Convocation. Hanson was educated at Wesleyan University and the Harvard Divinity School.

Week Eight: Reimagined Food Festival
2026-08-16 12:00 - 2026-08-22 20:00
Savor a week of elevated culinary experiences with our reimagined Food Festival. With only 80 packages per week, enjoy intimate moments across the grounds, from two Masters Series classes and five Bestor Plaza demos to a lively Weekly Feast of Friends. Your package also includes a Premium Chef’s Dinner, family‑friendly Feast on Film, a Craft Beverage Tasting and the flavor‑packed Taste Caravan featuring five lunches and two dinners. Cap your experience off with the high‑energy Battle of the Bites and the celebratory Taste of Chautauqua.
Package includes:
2 Master Series Classes
Sunday Feast with Friends Ticket
1 Premium Chef’s Dinner
Feast on Film Event
1 Premium Craft Beverage Tasting Event
Experience Taste Caravan
Battle of the Bites Tasting Event
Taste of Chautauqua
Plus, a limited merch package, $50 in food truck tickets for the taste caravan and a popcorn and soda for Feast on Film.
Package price: $505
Only 80 packages are available each week. Purchase by calling 716-357-6250.
*Packages available for week’s eight & nine. Packages do not provide standalone access to Chautauqua’s grounds and must be purchased in addition to your gate passes.

Masters Series Culinary Masterclass: Chef Nyesha Arrington
2026-08-16 15:30 | Norton Hall, Norton Hall
See culinary mastery up close as acclaimed chef, restaurateur, and television personality Nyesha Arrington — one of the most influential voices in food today — presents an exclusive Masters Series experience that blends refined techniques, creative storytelling, and soulful flavor.
Designed for curious cooks and serious food lovers alike, this intimate Masters Series program offers live demonstration, real-time Q&A, and rare insight into the techniques, mindset, and creative process of a chef shaping modern cuisine. The unforgettable experience kicks off Arrington’s multiday Chautauqua residency during Week Eight, “The Future of Food: Climate, Technology and the Next Agricultural Revolution.”
For a greater look into the role of food in telling our personal and collective stories, Arrington joins the Chautauqua Lecture Series on Tuesday, August 18, 2026. Later that evening, she hosts an exclusive Guest Chef’s Dinner, providing patrons an elevated dining experience at the historic Athenaeum Hotel.

Feast with Friends: Smokin Dicks Community BBQ
2026-08-16 17:00 | Bestor Plaza, Bestor Plaza
Where food builds community. Weekly Feast with Friends invites guests to gather around the table together in Bestor Plaza and kick off each week of the Chautauqua Institution Food Festival with a warm, welcoming shared meal. Designed to bring people together, this communal dining experience celebrates the joy of connection, conversation, and exceptional food.
Guests will delight in thoughtfully prepared dishes from some of the region’s best caterers, showcasing the flavors, care, and creativity that define our local food community. On Sunday, August 16, the evening will feature Smoking Dick’s BBQ, a beloved regional catering company known for bold flavors and generous hospitality.
More than a meal, Weekly Feast with Friends is an opportunity to slow down, share space, and connect with our community, fellow guests, chefs, and community partners. Whether you arrive with friends or sit down with someone new, the experience reflects a simple truth at the heart of the Food Festival: food is one of the most powerful ways we come together.
Smokin Dicks BBQ
Standard:
Pulled pork sandwich
Smoked mac and cheese
Coleslaw
Ear of corn
Dietary Restriction Menu:
Pulled BBQ Jackfruit with gluten free bun
Coleslaw (Vegan)
Bang Bang Cauliflower
Ear of corn

Feast on Film
2026-08-16 21:30 | Chautauqua Cinema, Chautauqua Cinema
As the evening continues, the celebration of food and community moves to the screen. Feast on Film pairs great food with great storytelling for a relaxed, movie night at the CHQ Cinema.
Guests are invited to join us for a free movie, grab a snack, and settle in for a film screening connected to food—whether through culture, memory, creativity, or the shared human experience of gathering around the table. These films are thoughtfully selected to complement the spirit of the Food Festival and extend the evening’s sense of connection. Films will be announced in the coming weeks, but tickets will be available starting April 15th.
Together, Weekly Feast with Friends and Feast on Film create a meaningful way to open each week of the festival—bringing the community together through flavor, story, and the simple joy of sharing an experience.

Danielle Nierenberg
2026-08-17 10:45 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Danielle Nierenberg is a world-renowned researcher, speaker and advocate, on all issues relating to our food system and agriculture. She is president of Food Tank, the think tank for food, and an expert on sustainable agriculture and food issues. She has written extensively on gender and population, the spread of factory farming in the developing world and innovations in sustainable agriculture.
Nierenberg founded Food Tank with Bernard Pollack in 2013. It is a global convener, thought leadership organization and unbiased creator of original research impacting the food system. Matching innovative ideas to today’s most pressing challenges, Food Tank bridges domestic and global partners to build sustainable agriculture and food systems. Hope, success and innovative ideas in our food system are highlighted through original daily publications, research articles, a chart-topping podcast, interviews and events, and summits in major cities around the world. Food Tank has more than 250 major institutional partners including The Rockefeller Foundation, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, the Christensen Fund, Oxfam America, Slow Food USA, U.N. FAO, the Crop Trust, the Sustainable Food Trust, and academic institutions in all 50 states.
Prior to starting Food Tank, Nierenberg spent two years traveling to more than 35 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America, meeting with farmers, scientists, researchers, policymakers, government leaders, students, academics and journalists, documenting what is working to help alleviate hunger and poverty, while protecting the environment. She is the recipient of the 2020 Julia Child Award. She has an M.S. in Agriculture, Food and Environment from Tufts University and spent two years volunteering for the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic.

Taste Caravan
2026-08-17 11:30, 2026-08-18 11:30, 2026-08-18 16:30, 2026-08-19 11:30, 2026-08-20 11:30, 2026-08-21 11:30, 2026-08-21 16:30, 2026-08-24 11:30 and 6 more dates | Bestor Plaza, Bestor Plaza
A moving feast of regional flavor. Taste Caravan transforms Bestor Plaza into a rotating showcase of the area’s most exciting restaurants and food trucks, offering guests the opportunity to sample 15–20 different regional establishments each week through thoughtfully prepared small bites.
Food trucks will be available:
Monday–Friday, 11:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m. (Lunch)
Tuesday & Friday, 4:30–8:00 p.m. (Dinner)
Vendors rotate throughout the week, and all offer small bites so guests are encouraged to return often so they can explore the wide range of cuisines, cooking styles, flavors and culinary voices—all in one vibrant, walkable destination located just outside the Amphitheater in Bestor Plaza.
During each Taste Caravan lunch service, guests can enjoy a live culinary demonstration or discussion in the plaza, creating an immersive experience where learning, conversation, and flavor come together. Whether you’re grabbing a quick bite or lingering to sample multiple offerings, Taste Caravan invites you to taste broadly, learn deeply, and celebrate the diversity of our regional food community.
Food/Drink Tickets:
All food vendors only accept Food Festival tickets for payment. The Athenaeum Hotel Beverage Tent & Lounge will accept tickets, cash or card. Tickets can be purchased from one of the two information and ticket tents located within steps of the food vendors.
5 Pack of Tickets: $10

Bestor Plaza Demo/Talk
2026-08-17 13:00, 2026-08-18 13:00, 2026-08-19 13:00, 2026-08-21 13:00, 2026-08-24 13:00, 2026-08-25 13:00, 2026-08-26 13:00, 2026-08-28 13:00 | Bestor Plaza, Bestor Plaza
Big flavor meets big ideas in Bestor Plaza. Enjoy a dynamic lineup of live culinary demonstrations and discussions featuring chefs, artisans, and community partners from across the region and beyond. These engaging sessions spotlight innovative techniques, cultural traditions, sustainability practices, and the stories behind the food we love.
Held daily during the Taste Caravan, each demonstration or talk runs from approximately 1:00–1:45 p.m. and offers guests the chance to learn, ask questions, and connect directly with experts—all while enjoying small bites from the surrounding food vendors.
Featured topics will include a discussion on innovative approaches to tackling food insecurity with 412 Food Rescue, the cultural significance of matzo ball soup and challah bread—with hands on challah braiding guests can take home—live fish breakdowns showcase the preparation process for both restaurant and home chefs, and much more. Programming will showcase something new each day, highlighting regional chefs, culinary professionals, and community organizations.
All demonstrations and talks are free to watch and designed to complement the vibrant flavors and energy of the Taste Caravan, making them the perfect midday stop for inspiration, learning, and delicious discovery.

Battle of the Bites: Best Meatball
2026-08-17 15:00 | Bestor Plaza, Bestor Plaza
High energy. High stakes. Incredible food. Inspired by competitive cooking shows, Battle of the Bites brings the thrill of a culinary showdown to Bestor Plaza as talented local chefs go head‑to‑head in a fast‑paced, flavor‑driven competition.
Each week features four different chefs and a guest judge. Chefs are given three hours to develop and execute a dish inspired by that week’s featured cuisine, building a cohesive flavor profile that reflects creativity, technique, and personality. At the end of the challenge, each chef presents their dish to the judge—and the community—to determine who has created the best bite of the day.
Battle of the Bites is free to attend, and everyone is welcome to watch the action unfold. Guests who want to taste along with the judge can purchase a tasting ticket, which allows them to sample the same bites being evaluated—making the audience part of the experience. (Limited Tasting Ticket Sales)

Chautauqua Chamber Music: Naeve Trio
2026-08-17 16:00 | Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall, Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall
Experience the captivating Naeve Trio in a performance of expressive chamber music and dynamic collaboration. Blending violin, cello, and piano with remarkable sensitivity and balance, the trio brings both classical and contemporary works to life with warmth and clarity. Their performances highlight deep musical connection, refined artistry, and a shared spirit of exploration. Join us for an inspiring concert that celebrates the beauty and versatility of the piano trio.

Kate Kortum
2026-08-17 20:00 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
A Juilliard graduate and winner of the 2025 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, Kortum has become a familiar face on the most iconic stages in jazz including Birdland, Blue Note, Mezzrow, Dizzy’s Club, SXSW Festival, and Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Kortum has toured internationally and collaborated with modern jazz leaders including Cyrille Aimée, Bryan Carter, Peter Bernstein, Wynton Marsalis and the world renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.
Her debut album, Good Woman, reimagines jazz standards originally written by men, reclaiming them through bold arrangements and a distinctly female perspective. The record and her follow-up LP Wild Woman have been met with acclaim leading to over 5.1 million streams.
Alongside her solo career, Kate Kortum is a member of The Sunhouse Singers, a New York-based vocal trio with vocalists June Cavlan and Joie Bianco. Together, the trio have been featured in projects from Bryan Carter, Charlie Rosen, Christian Wiggs, and Emmet Cohen – appearing on the award winning program “Live from Emmet’s Place”.

Chautauqua Science Group: George Carlo
2026-08-18 09:15 | Hurlbut Church sanctuary, Hurlbut Church sanctuary

Nyesha Arrington
2026-08-18 10:45 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Nyesha Arrington is the dynamic co-star of FOX’s hit culinary competition series “Next Level Chef,” where she brings her signature blend of mentorship, humor and fierce expertise to millions of viewers each season. She also hosts and produces the acclaimed digital series “Plateworthy” for Eater, celebrating the craft, culture and creative spirit of cooking. Drawing inspiration from the seasons, global travel and contemporary art, Arrington’s cooking is a soulful fusion of heritage, curiosity and California expression, a style uniquely her own. Beyond the kitchen, she is deeply passionate about functional fitness, wellness and building community through intention and storytelling. These passions will inspire Arrington’s Chautauqua Lecture Series remarks, which serve as the centerpiece of her multiday Chautauqua residency during Week Eight, “The Future of Food: Climate, Technology and the Next Agricultural Revolution.” Beyond the Amphitheater stage, she will bring her cutting-edge cooking skills, experience and expertise to other food-centered engagements as part of the 2026 Chautauqua Food Festival.
A fan favorite since her breakout season on “Top Chef,” Arrington has become one of the industry’s most recognizable and respected voices. Her television credits span “MasterChef,” “Tournament of Champions,” “Guy’s Grocery Games,” “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” and “Next Level Chef U.K.,” showcasing her versatility, creativity and leadership across multiple platforms.
Arrington began her culinary journey in Michelin-starred kitchens, including Mélisse in Santa Monica, California, as well as L’Atelier and The Mansion in Las Vegas. She went on to make her mark on the Los Angeles dining landscape with her restaurants Leona and Native by Arrington, earning national recognition for her commitment to farm-fresh, local and ethically sourced ingredients. Her work has landed her on Zagat’s 30 Under 30, Eater’s LA Chef of the Year and countless lists celebrating chefs shaping the future of food.
A true multi-hyphenate creative, Arrington is expanding her voice across media, lifestyle, philanthropy and product design, championing representation and empowerment in every space she inhabits.

Our Changing Menu: Climate Change and the Foods We Love and Need, with Michael Hoffman, Cornell University
2026-08-18 12:30 | Smith Wilkes Hall, Smith Wilkes Hall

Masters Series Masterclass: Good Food Belongs to People, Not a Landfill
2026-08-18 15:15, 2026-08-19 15:15, 2026-08-20 15:15 | Hultquist 101, Hultquist 101
At the intersection of food insecurity and climate change lies one powerful opportunity: food rescue. Food waste and food insecurity are often treated as separate crises — yet they stem from the same structural inefficiencies in our food system. In the United States, up to 40% of food produced goes uneaten, even as 1 in 7 households face food insecurity. Most wasted food ends up in landfills, where it becomes a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. 412 Food Rescue in Pittsburgh is transforming how communities respond to these challenges. By mobilizing volunteers through innovative, people-powered technology, the organization rescues fresh, nutritious food that would otherwise go to waste and delivers it directly to neighbors experiencing food insecurity. In this way, the organization operates at the intersection of food waste and environmental sustainability, redirecting surplus food to communities experiencing food insecurity while reducing landfill methane emissions. In this session, leadership from 412 Food Rescue will examine how technology-enabled logistics, volunteer mobilization, and cross-sector partnerships can serve as civic infrastructure — addressing hunger, advancing environmental sustainability, and strengthening local food systems. Participants will explore how surplus food recovery functions not as charity, but as systems-level intervention in both public health and climate resilience that has national and global impact.

Premium Chefs Dinner: Nyesha Arrington
2026-08-18 17:30 | Athenaeum Hotel, Athenaeum Hotel
Guest Chef Dinner: Nyesha Arrington
5:30 p.m. Tuesday, August 18, 2026 | Athenaeum Hotel
Join acclaimed chef and television personality Nyesha Arrington for an unforgettable evening of elevated dining at the historic Athenaeum Hotel. This exclusive Guest Chef Dinner offers an intimate opportunity to experience Arrington’s soulful, seasonally driven cuisine through a thoughtfully curated multicourse tasting menu. The experience caps Arrington’s multiday Chautauqua Food Festival residency, which also includes a mainstage Chautauqua Lecture Series appearance Tuesday morning, and a special Masters Series Cooking Demonstration on Sunday, Aug. 16.
Arrington brings her signature blend of refined technique, creativity and storytelling to the table. Drawing inspiration from seasonal ingredients, global travel and contemporary art, her cooking is a distinctly personal expression delivering “Food that Hugs the Soul.”
The evening begins with passed hors d’oeuvres, followed by seated dining as each course unfolds as part of a cohesive culinary narrative. Guests will enjoy an immersive dining experience that highlights Arrington’s approach to flavor, intention and connection, all set within one of Chautauqua’s most iconic settings.
This Guest Chef Dinner is designed for passionate food lovers seeking a memorable night of discovery, conversation and exceptional cuisine.
Please note:
The menu for all courses is determined by the visiting chef; specific dietary restrictions may not be accounted for in the menu design. The final menu will be added to the website at a later date.
A wine pairing will be available on the night of the event for an additional fee.

Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra with Maxim Lando, piano
2026-08-18 20:00 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Rossen Milanov, conductor
Maxim Lando, piano
Maxim Lando joins the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra in an evening of rhythmic fire. Lando commands the Amphitheater stage in Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3, balancing bold modern energy with moments of lyrical warmth. Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances offers nostalgia and momentum, with the widely recognized Dies Ire making its looming presence. Together, these works bring passion and power to the orchestra.
Program:
Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances

Sunrise Paddle - Kayak/SUP
2026-08-19 06:15, 2026-08-21 06:15, 2026-08-26 06:15, 2026-08-28 06:15 | Sports Club, Sports Club
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.

Brian Frank
2026-08-19 10:45 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Brian Frank is the founder and general partner of FTW Ventures, bringing decades of experience in building transformative technology that impacts the way people work, play and live. In 2015, Frank turned his attention to how technology can improve the lives of every person on the planet by building a better food system. He raised two early-stage funds for investments into food and agriculture technology businesses with FTW, partnering with the leading executives and corporations in the field.
Now at FTW, Frank continues to build a more sustainable, resilient, productive and profitable food system through leveraging advanced science and technology in the $10 trillion food and agriculture sectors. He cultivates urgent, essential technology that reshapes the global food and agriculture industries. To support the company’s three core values — preserving and amplifying nature’s offerings, modernizing science, and nurturing humankind — Frank and his team support the innovators who think beyond the box and have a unique perspective on improving the food system.
Prior to founding FTW, Frank led the creation of industry-defining products in mobile communication, social media and AI at numerous startups and Fortune 500 Companies over his 25-year career. As an entrepreneur, he directed three venture-backed businesses to successful exits, returning more than $100 million in capital to investors. Frank is a graduate of Cornell University with dual degrees in computer science as well as science and technology studies with a concentration in human-computer interaction (HCI).

Taste of Chautauqua
2026-08-19 15:00, 2026-08-26 15:00 | Bestor Plaza, Bestor Plaza
A celebration of food, art, music, and family. Taste of Chautauqua invites guests to experience the spirit of the region through an afternoon that brings together regional cuisine, craft beverages, live music, and local art—all in the heart of Bestor Plaza.
Designed for guests of all ages, this vibrant community gathering showcases the incredible culinary and creative talent of Chautauqua County. Sample small bites from a variety of local restaurants, explore and purchase products from area food manufacturers, wineries, distilleries, and breweries, and browse work from local artists sharing their craft and creativity. Live local music sets the tone, creating a relaxed, joyful atmosphere where flavor and culture come together.
Taste of Chautauqua is an opportunity to taste broadly, meet the makers, and celebrate the people and products that define our region. Whether you’re discovering a new favorite restaurant, supporting local producers, or simply enjoying an afternoon with family and friends, this event captures the heart of the community in one joyful celebration.

UU Cultural Ethics Series: Roger Doebke
2026-08-19 15:30 | Hall of Philosophy, Hall of Philosophy

The Rev. Natalie Hanson
2026-08-20 09:15 | Hall of Philosophy, Hall of Philosophy

Bestor Plaza Demo/Talk: 412 Food Rescue
2026-08-20 13:00 | Bestor Plaza, Bestor Plaza

Norman Wirzba
2026-08-20 14:00 | Hall of Philosophy, Hall of Philosophy
Norman Wirzba is Gilbert T. Rowe Distinguished Professor of Christian Theology & Senior Fellow at the Kenan Institute of Ethics at Duke University. His research and teaching interests are at the intersections of theology, philosophy, ecology, and agrarian and environmental studies. He is the author of Love’s Braided Dance: Hope in a Time of Crisis and Food and Faith: A Theology of Eating. Raised on a farm in Southern Alberta, Norman went on to study history at the University of Lethbridge, theology at Yale University Divinity School, and philosophy at Loyola University Chicago. Since then he has taught at Saint Thomas More College/University of Saskatchewan, Georgetown College (KY), and Duke University Divinity School. He’s the father of four children and is married to Gretchen Ziegenhals. He likes to bake, cook and make things with wood. He also enjoys playing the guitar. He used to be a good athlete! He enjoys being outdoors and spending time with his family and friends. He tries to grow some food.

Masters Series Masterclass: From Spirit to Shelf — Inside Mezcal & Whiskey Manufacturing in Mexico
2026-08-20 15:30 | Norton Hall, Norton Hall
Go beyond the glass and into the heart of artisanal spirits production in this immersive Masters Series class presented by Laika Spirits. This special program brings two master distillers—one of mezcal and one of whiskey—directly from Mexico to Chautauqua for an insider look at how some of today’s most compelling spirits are made, transported, and shared with the world.
Joined by close colleague and brand importer Ismael Gomez, distillers Txomin and Carlos will share vivid images and firsthand stories from the regions where their spirits are produced, offering rare insight into traditional techniques, regional terroir, and the cultural heritage behind each bottle. Together, they will explore the realities of modern spirits production, including the challenges and opportunities of importing handcrafted products into the American market.
Designed as a conversational and engaging experience, the class blends storytelling, visual presentation, and open dialogue. Guests will have the opportunity to ask questions, deepen their understanding of mezcal and whiskey production, and gain a clearer picture of the journey from raw ingredient to finished spirit.
The brands sharing in this Masters Series class will also be showcased during the Premium Craft Beverage Tasting Events on Thursday, August 20, and Thursday, August 27, offering guests a chance to taste these products and continue the conversation in a relaxed, social setting.
Perfect for curious drinkers, spirits enthusiasts, and anyone interested in craftsmanship, culture, and global trade, this Masters Series class offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at the people and processes shaping today’s premium spirits landscape.

Premium Tasting Event
2026-08-20 17:00, 2026-08-27 17:00 | Bestor Plaza, Bestor Plaza
Sip, swirl, and savor at this lively Premium Craft Beverage Tasting Event, an interactive evening designed to showcase exciting wines, craft beers, and artisanal spirits you may not have encountered before. Set in the heart of Bestor Plaza, this social tasting experience invites guests to explore new flavors, discover emerging brands, and connect directly with the people behind the products.
Throughout the evening, guests will enjoy a curated selection of beverages alongside thoughtfully paired small bites, guided by knowledgeable producers and beverage experts who can speak to the craftsmanship, origin, and unique character of each offering. From innovative flavor profiles to time-honored techniques, the focus is on discovery, conversation, and appreciation.
Presented in partnership with regional producers and collaborators, the Premium Craft Beverage Tasting Event creates a relaxed, welcoming atmosphere where curiosity is encouraged and favorites are found. Whether you’re a seasoned enthusiast or simply eager to try something new, this event offers an engaging way to taste, learn, and celebrate the creativity shaping today’s beverage landscape.
Perfect as an evening gathering with friends—or a flavorful complement to other Food Festival programming—this tasting event highlights the joy of sharing great drinks, great food, and great company.
Those interested in this event may also enjoy the Masters Series Class: From Spirit to Shelf — Inside Mezcal & Whiskey Manufacturing in Mexico, presented by Laiki Spirits on Thursday, August 20. This in depth conversation offers a behind-the-scenes look at the production, culture, and global journey of some of the spirits featured at the tastings—providing a deeper understanding of the craftsmanship behind what’s in your glass.

Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra: Generational Voices- An Evening with the Denyce Graves Foundation
2026-08-20 20:00 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
This special evening marks the official launch of the Denyce Graves Foundation’s Generational Voices program, a dynamic new initiative dedicated to mentoring and elevating the next generation of vocal artists. The final concert of our orchestral season showcases rising talent from this groundbreaking program. Join maestro Rossen Milanov and the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra for a soaring night of vocal artistry and symphonic brilliance. From beloved operatic arias to Bernstein’s enthralling Jeremiah Symphony, this performance celebrates the future of American opera and the enduring excellence of our resident orchestra.

Aimee Nezhukumatathil
2026-08-21 14:00 | Hall of Philosophy, Hall of Philosophy
Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle — Bite by Bite: Nourishments & Jamborees by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
From the New York Times bestselling author of World of Wonders, a lyrical book of short essays about food, offering a banquet of tastes, smells, memories, associations, and marvelous curiosities from nature. In Bite by Bite, poet and essayist Aimee Nezhukumatathil explores the way food and drink evoke our associations and remembrances—a subtext or layering, a flavor tinged with joy, shame, exuberance, grief, desire, or nostalgia.
Nezhukumatathil restores our astonishment and wonder about food through her encounters with a range of foods and food traditions. From shave ice to lumpia, mangoes to pecans, rambutan to vanilla, she investigates how food marks our experiences and identities and explores the boundaries between heritage and memory.
Bite by Bite offers a rich and textured kaleidoscope of vignettes and visions into the world of food and nature, drawn together by intimate and humorous personal reflections, with Fumi Nakamura’s gorgeous imagery and illustration.
Aimee Nezhukumatathil is the author of Night Owl, a poetry collection, the book of food essays Bite By Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees, and the New York Times best-selling illustrated collection of nature essays, World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks & Other Astonishments. She has also written four previous poetry collections including Oceanic and At The Drive-in Volcano. Her most recent chapbook is Lace & Pyrite, a collaboration of epistolary garden poems with the poet Ross Gay. Honors include a poetry fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Pushcart Prize, a Mississippi Arts Council grant, NAAEE’s 2024 Pepe Marcos-Iga Award for Innovation in Environmental Education, and being named a Guggenheim Fellow in poetry. For a decade, she served as the poetry editor for Orion and Sierra magazines. A professor of English and Creative Writing for over twenty five years, she also serves as a firefly guide for Mississippi State Parks.

Renée Fleming with Béla Fleck The Fiddle and the Drum
2026-08-21 20:00 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
This collaboration brings together 5x Grammy winning soprano Renée Fleming and 19x Grammy-winning banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck for a celebration of Appalachian folk music. For our country’s 250th anniversary, the program mines a rich vein of America’s musical heritage, weaving the expressive depth of Fleming’s voice with the brilliance of Fleck’s banjo and his all-star My Bluegrass Heart band. Through mountain songs, haunting ballads, and folk hymns, The Fiddle and the Drum honors the roots and emotional power of Appalachia.

Silkroad Ensemble featuring Rhiannon Giddens
2026-08-22 20:00 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
The Silkroad Ensemble featuring Rhiannon Giddens brings an electrifying fusion of global traditions and contemporary expression to the stage. This acclaimed collective of artists creates a vibrant tapestry of sound that celebrates cultural exchange and musical curiosity. Giddens’ compelling voice and storytelling artistry add emotional depth and urgency to the performance. Audiences will be swept into an unforgettable evening of boundary-crossing music that resonates long after the final note.

Fr. Gregory Boyle, S.J.
2026-08-23 10:45, 2026-08-24 09:15, 2026-08-25 09:15, 2026-08-26 09:15 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Fr. Greg Boyle, S.J., is a Jesuit priest and the founder of Homeboy Industries. Based in Los Angeles, the organization is the largest gang intervention, rehabilitation and re-entry program in the world.
From 1986 to 1992 Boyle served as pastor of Dolores Mission Church, then the poorest Catholic parish in Los Angeles, and the one with the highest concentration of gang activity. In the face of law enforcement tactics and criminal justice policies of suppression and mass incarceration as the means to end gang violence, Boyle and parish and community members adopted what was a radical approach at the time: treat gang members as human beings.
In 1988 they began what would eventually become Homeboy Industries, which employs and trains former gang members in a range of social enterprises, and provides critical services to thousands of people who walk through its doors every year seeking a better life.
Boyle is the author of the 2010 New York Times bestseller, Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion, as well as Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship, and The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness. Most recently, he authored Forgive Everyone Everything, an anthology of writings accompanied by Fabian Debora’s artwork.
Recently, Boyle was a recipient of the 2025 Civic Renewal Award from the Center for Christianity and Public Life. In 2024, Boyle received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joseph Biden. Homeboy Industries was awarded the 2020 Hilton Humanitarian Prize, and Boyle was the recipient of University of Notre Dame’s 2017 Laetare Medal, the oldest honor given to American Catholics. In 2014, President Barack Obama named him a Champion of Change. Boyle has also received the California Peace Prize and been inducted into the California Hall of Fame.

Week Nine: Reimagined Food Festival
2026-08-23 12:00 - 2026-08-28 20:00

Community Gathering with Dance Theatre of Harlem
2026-08-23 15:00 | Bestor Plaza, Bestor Plaza
Community Gathering with Dance Theatre of Harlem
Dance Theatre of Harlem invites you to “Dancing in the Streets,” a participatory dance workshop for people of all ages and abilities in Bestor Plaza. This free and fun workshop brings world-class artistry directly to our Chautauqua community. Deeply committed to building connection through the arts, company artists will introduce you to the joy and power of dance.
*Rain Location: Chautauqua Amphitheater

Feast With Friends: Farm to Table Dinner with 3 C’s Catering
2026-08-23 17:00 | Bestor Plaza, Bestor Plaza
Where food builds community. Weekly Feast with Friends invites guests to gather around the table together in Bestor Plaza and kick off each week of the Chautauqua Institution Food Festival with a warm, welcoming shared meal. Designed to bring people together, this communal dining experience celebrates the joy of connection, conversation, and exceptional food.
Guests will delight in thoughtfully prepared dishes from some of the region’s best caterers, showcasing the flavors, care, and creativity that define our local food community. On Sunday, August 23, the evening will feature 3 C’s Catering, a beloved regional catering company known for bold flavors and generous hospitality.
More than a meal, Weekly Feast with Friends is an opportunity to slow down, share space, and connect with our community, fellow guests, chefs, and community partners. Whether you arrive with friends or sit down with someone new, the experience reflects a simple truth at the heart of the Food Festival: food is one of the most powerful ways we come together.
3 C’s Catering
Theme: Farm to table dinner
Standard (FT = FARM TO TABLE)
FT Italian Sausage with FT peppers and onions
FT parsley buttered potatoes
FT seasonal roasted vegetables
Vegetarian Option:
White FT ratatouille lasagna,
Homemade Italian bread,
FT seasonal vegetables,
FT tossed salad with homemade Italian dressing

Priya Parker
2026-08-24 10:45 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Priya Parker opens Week Nine of the 2026 Chautauqua Lecture Series and the theme of “The Importance of Gathering” by helping us take a deeper look at how anyone can create collective meaning in modern life, one gathering at a time. She is a facilitator, strategic adviser, acclaimed author of The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why it Matters, and the host of The Art of Gathering Digital Course. She writes and teaches on Group Life, her Substack publication aimed to make “group help” as normal as “self help.”
Drawing from her diverse training in conflict resolution, business management, public policy and community-building, her talks dive into the anatomy of gathering with purpose. Whether she is talking about gathering as a 21st-century leadership skill, fostering belonging among remote teams, the art of hosting meetings everyone wants to attend, or connecting people across identities, backgrounds and hierarchies, Parker gives her audiences the skills they need to succeed.
Parker has helped numerous clients develop better in-person and virtual gatherings, including tech and Fortune 500 companies, leading non-profits, education groups and government agencies, among others.
Parker has spoken on the TED Main Stage and her sessions have been viewed over 3 million times. The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters was named a Best Business Book of the Year by Amazon, Esquire Magazine, NPR, the Financial Times, 1-800-CEO-READS and Bloomberg. In 2023, The Wall Street Journal tapped Parker as their work expert for their “Future of Everything” series. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes.com, Oprah.com, Real Simple Magazine, Glamour, “The Today Show” and “Morning Joe,” among others.

Battle of The Bites: Best Slider
2026-08-24 15:00 | Bestor Plaza, Bestor Plaza
High energy. High stakes. Incredible food. Inspired by competitive cooking shows, Battle of the Bites brings the thrill of a culinary showdown to Bestor Plaza as talented local chefs go head‑to‑head in a fast‑paced, flavor‑driven competition.
Each week features four different chefs and a guest judge. Chefs are given three hours to develop and execute a dish inspired by that week’s featured cuisine, building a cohesive flavor profile that reflects creativity, technique, and personality. At the end of the challenge, each chef presents their dish to the judge—and the community—to determine who has created the best bite of the day.
Battle of the Bites is free to attend, and everyone is welcome to watch the action unfold. Guests who want to taste along with the judge can purchase a tasting ticket, which allows them to sample the same bites being evaluated—making the audience part of the experience.
On August 24, the competition will be judged by celebrity chef Darian Bryan, joining us from Buffalo. The judge for August 17 will be announced in the coming weeks.
Lively, interactive, and deliciously fun, Battle of the Bites celebrates local culinary talent while inviting the community to cheer, taste, and take part in the excitement. (Limited Tasting Tickets sold)

Chautauqua Chamber Music: American Brass Quintet
2026-08-24 16:00 | Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall, Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall

Dance Theatre of Harlem
2026-08-24 19:30 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Dance Theatre of Harlem is a leading dance institution of unparalleled global acclaim, encompassing a world-class company, a professional studio school, a leading arts education program-Dancing Through Barriers®, and community engagement activities.Each component of Dance Theatre of Harlem carries deep commitment towards enriching the lives of young people and adults around the world through the arts.Founded in 1969 by Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook, Dance Theatre of Harlem was considered “one of ballet’s most exciting undertakings” (The New York Times, 1971).Shortly after the assassination of The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Mitchell was inspired to start a school that would offer children—especially those in Harlem, the community in which he was born—the opportunity to learn about dance and the allied arts. Now in its sixth decade, Dance Theatre of Harlem has grown into a multicultural dance institution with an extraordinary legacy of providing opportunities for creative expression and artistic excellence that continues to set standards in the performing arts.

Chautauqua Science Group Weekly Lecture
2026-08-25 09:15 | Hurlbut Church sanctuary, Hurlbut Church sanctuary

Lara Downes and John McWhorter
2026-08-25 10:45 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Visionary American pianist and scholar Lara Downes is joined by fellow American scholar and linguist John McWhorter for a musical-conversation to discuss the role of American music as a joyful noise, even in the hardest times — the songs that have chased our cares away even in times of hardship, crisis and wartime, to remind us of the importance of “harmonizing together.” This program is part of Downes’ series, “America in Pursuit,” developed for NPR’s “All Things Considered,” and continues Chautauqua’s weeklong exploration of “The Importance of Gathering,” in collaboration with the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.
At 8 p.m. the same evening, vocalist Kurt Elling joins Downes in a special concert called “Get Happy,” inspired by the morning’s conversation and celebrating 250 years of American music. The duo will share beloved songs that remind us that “the sun will come up tomorrow!” The performance features music by Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, H.T. Burleigh, Louis Armstrong, and more.
Lara Downes, a visionary trailblazer and American pianist occupies a unique position of visibility through her dynamic work as a sought-after soloist, a Billboard Chart-topping recording artist, and a beloved NPR personality. She seeks inspiration from the legacies of history, family and collective memory, creating performances and recording projects that serve as gathering spaces for her listeners to find common ground and shared experiences.
Downes has recently launched “The Declaration Project,” a national initiative marking the 250th anniversary of the United States by gathering together American communities to find common ground in exploring the core essence of our founding promise: the unalienable rights of “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” Engaging with multigenerational communities in the form of round-table conversations, generative writing workshops, and collaborative creative practice, Downes encourages reflection and expression that actively reimagines the promise of our future, reflecting on the magic and mystery of life, the ongoing quest for freedom and equality, and the radical power of joy.
Downes is the creator and host of the NPR Music video series “Amplify with Lara Downes,” which features intimate, profoundly personal video conversations with visionary artists and cultural leaders who are shaping our creative present and future. Downes’ fierce commitment to citizenship and advocacy has led to her role as an Artist Ambassador for Headcount, a non-partisan organization that uses the power of music to register voters and promote participation in democracy. A cultural visionary with a firm finger on the pulse of tomorrow, Downes is increasingly active as a curator and creative partner with institutions including Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Aspen Ideas Festival, Mass MoCA, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and as Resident Artist for Classical California (formerly KDFC and KUSC).
Downes’ uniquely insightful approach to concept and curation have created an extensive and acclaimed series of chart-topping recordings, including her latest release “Rhapsody in Blue Reimagined,” featured on NPR’s “Morning Edition,” in The Wall Street Journal and Downbeat Magazine. Her 2023 release “Love at Last” was featured as an NPR Tiny Desk Concert, and her groundbreaking 2016 release “America Again” was called “a balm for a country riven by disunion” by the Boston Globe.
John McWhorter is not just a linguist — he’s a storyteller of language, a cultural critic and a fearless commentator on the social issues of our time. As a professor in the Slavic Department at Columbia University, McWhorter has spent his career dissecting the ways in which language evolves, adapts and reflects the human condition. His research into creole languages, dialects and sociolects offers a window into the everchanging tapestry of human communication.
McWhorter’s work extends far beyond the classroom. Known for his bold, unorthodox views on race and society, he has become a prominent public intellectual, challenging the status quo and encouraging us to rethink our assumptions. Through his writing, speaking and media appearances, McWhorter brings a fresh, incisive perspective that is both enlightening and accessible, making even the most complex topics approachable for all.
McWhorter is an author of more than 20 books, including The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language, Losing the Race: Self Sabotage in Black America and Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English. In 2016 he published Words on the Move: Why English Won’t — and Can’t — Sit Still (Like, Literally), while in 2021, he published Nine Nasty Words and Woke Racism. He also writes a weekly column for The New York Times and hosts the language podcast “Lexicon Valley.” He earned his B.A. from Rutgers, his M.A. from New York University and his Ph.D. in linguistics from Stanford.

Ken Parker, Native Plants Guy: Indigenous Ecological Wisdom
2026-08-25 12:30 | Smith Wilkes Hall, Smith Wilkes Hall

Masters Series Culinary Masterclass: Chef Darian Bryan
2026-08-25 15:30 | Norton Hall, Norton Hall
Bold flavor, big personality, and unforgettable food take center stage in this dynamic Masters Series class with Chef Darian Bryan, one of Western New York’s most celebrated culinary voices. Known for merging fine dining techniques with the vibrant soul of Caribbean cuisine, Chef Darian delivers an experience that is as entertaining as it is inspiring. He has been featured in numerous national and international media outlets, including the Food Network, CBS News, ESPN, The Jamaican Observer, The Gleaner, and TVJ, sharing his food and story with audiences around the world.

Premium Chefs Dinner: Darian Bryan
2026-08-25 17:30 | Athenaeum Hotel, Athenaeum Hotel
Bold flavor and joyful hospitality take center stage at this special Guest Chef Dinner with Chef Darian Bryan, one of Western New York’s most dynamic culinary talents. Hosted at the Athenaeum Hotel, this one night only dining experience celebrates Chef Darian’s vibrant fusion of fine dining technique and Caribbean soul.
Born in Jamaica and based in Buffalo, Chef Darian is known for creating food that makes people happy—an ethos reflected in every course of this thoughtfully crafted tasting menu. Guests can expect an evening that balances elevated presentation with bold, expressive flavors inspired by heritage, culture, and creativity.
The night begins with passed hors d’oeuvres, followed by a seated multi‑course dinner showcasing Chef Darian’s confident, energetic approach to cuisine. From start to finish, the experience is designed to be immersive, celebratory, and deeply satisfying.
Perfect for adventurous diners and longtime fans alike, this Guest Chef Dinner offers a rare chance to enjoy Chef Darian’s cooking in an intimate, elegant setting.
Please note:
The menu for all courses is determined by the visiting chef; specific dietary restrictions may not be accounted for in the menu design. The final menu will be added to the website at a later date.
A wine pairing will be available on the night of the event for an additional fee.

Get Happy with Lara Downes and Kurt Elling
2026-08-25 20:00 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Pianist and cultural visionary Lara Downes has been called “A musical ray of hope” by NBC News. Vocalist Kurt Elling, whom The Guardian dubbed “a kind of Sinatra with superpowers,” joins Downes in a special concert called GET HAPPY, celebrating 250 years of American music as a joyful noise, even in the hardest times. The duo shares beloved songs that have chased our cares away even in times of hardship, crisis, and wartime, to remind us that “the sun will come up tomorrow!” Music by Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, H.T. Burleigh, Louis Armstrong, and more.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
2026-08-26 10:45 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University professor and director of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University. The Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker, literary scholar, journalist, cultural critic and institution builder has produced and hosted an array of documentary films and published numerous books. Gates joins the Chautauqua Lecture Series during this week on “The Importance of Gathering,” in collaboration with the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, to reflect on the importance of sharing collective histories and memories, based on his extensive work and scholarship exploring the connections that bind us.
Nominated for a 2024 Primetime Emmy, and in its 12th season this year, is Gates’s groundbreaking genealogy and genetics series “Finding Your Roots.” His latest history series for PBS are “Black and Jewish America: An Interwoven History” and “Great Migrations: A People on the Move.” He also served as executive producer of PBS’ “The Black Church” and HBO’s “Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches,” which each received Emmy nominations as well.
Gates’s latest book is The Black Box: Writing the Race. Published in 2024, it was named one of the New York Times 100 Best Books of the Year. Other recent titles include The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song and Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow. A former chair of the Pulitzer Prize board, he is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and serves on a wide array of boards, including the New York Public Library, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Aspen Institute, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Library of America and The Studio Museum of Harlem.
Gates earned his B.A. in history from Yale University, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in English literature from Clare College at Cambridge. He was a member of the first class awarded “genius grants” by the MacArthur Foundation in 1981, and in 1998 he became the first African American scholar to be awarded the National Humanities Medal.

Leon and Gloria Plevin Lecture: Garrett Klein (Massey Klein Gallery)
2026-08-26 18:30 | Hultquist 101, Hultquist 101

Samara Joy
2026-08-26 20:00 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
A native of the Bronx, Samara Joy became entranced by classic R&B as a child and cut her teeth as a singer in her church’s gospel choir. And while her family history is deeply musical—her grandparents helmed the Philadelphia gospel group the Savettes, and her father, the musician and songwriter Antonio McLendon, has produced, composed and arranged his own astounding original work—she didn’t delve into the jazz tradition until college at SUNY Purchase. During her studies there she won the 2019 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, which introduced her to the larger jazz scene as a rising star to watch. She was heard, by audiences and critics alike, as a masterful interpreter of jazz standards and a rightful heiress of the sound, technique and charisma that defined her jazz heroines—including Vaughan, Betty Carter, Abbey Lincoln and Carmen McRae.
Joy released her self-titled debut on the Whirlwind label in 2021, followed a year later by Linger Awhile, her breakout Verve debut, of which Down Beat said, “With this beautiful recording, a silky-voiced star is born.” The album earned her a Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album in addition to a headline-making win for Best New Artist. A deluxe edition of the album was released, as well as the EP A Joyful Holiday, which took home Grammys for Best Jazz Vocal Album and Best Jazz Performance in 2025. Her new Verve album, Portrait, which Joy co-produced with the veteran trumpeter/bandleader and multi-Grammy winner Brian Lynch, showcases the intimate, soulful chemistry she’s developed with her touring band, already earning her an NAACP Image Award this year for Best Jazz Album. Portrait also spotlights her burgeoning gifts as a lyricist, in ingenious arrangements that meld her thoughtful words with music by Charles Mingus, Sun Ra and her late mentor Barry Harris.

Fr. Gregory Boyle, S.J.
2026-08-27 09:15 | Hall of Philosophy, Hall of Philosophy

Bestor Plaza Demo/Talks
2026-08-27 13:00 | Bestor Plaza, Bestor Plaza

Masters Series Culinary Masterclass: Sysco Chef
2026-08-27 15:30 | Norton Hall, Norton Hall
As Food Fest winds down, there is still plenty to experience with two of Sysco’s finest chefs, Brian Barcus and Joe Bucci, who will demonstrate their expertise in the kitchen. This masterclass will showcase their combined nearly half a century of culinary artistry. Both chefs have careers filled with fine dining creations in a Michelin starred restaurant, associations with the best chefs in their fields and represent the finest specialty food ingredients in the world! Get inspired to take some Food Fest practical knowledge home with you and re-create these tasty dishes once you leave Chautauqua!

The Australian Pink Floyd Show
2026-08-28 20:00 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Selling over 4 million tickets worldwide and described by The Times as “The Gold Standard” and The Daily Mirror as “The Kings of the Genre,” The Australian Pink Floyd Show gave its first-ever concert in Adelaide, Australia in 1988. Since then, they have performed in over 35 countries worldwide; played at David Gilmour’s 50th birthday celebration and were even joined on stage by David Gilmour and Rick Wright. TAPFS is the leading show of its kind in the world.
Performing the music of Pink Floyd with note-for-note perfection, this critically acclaimed show has been astonishing audiences worldwide for more than three decades. Always striving to reproduce the complete Pink Floyd experience and bring the music to new audiences, the show continues to include a stunning light and laser show, video animations, state-of-the-art high-resolution LED screen technology, and other special effects.
In addition, and in true Pink Floyd fashion, there are several huge inflatables including a giant pig and their own unique Pink Kangaroo. They have worked with Pink Floyd touring musicians like Guy Pratt and Durga McBroom. Lorelei McBroom, who was a member of the Pink Floyd touring band on both the Momentary Lapse of Reason and Delicate Sound of Thunder tours, has been a member of TAPFS for over 15 years.
Often described as being much more than a tribute band, The Australian Pink Floyd Show is the first Pink Floyd tribute show that took the concept into the worldwide arena circuit. The band has played to sell-out audiences throughout Europe, the UK, America, Canada, and South America.
With over 35 years of history, the world’s biggest, best, and greatest Pink Floyd tribute show continues to delight its global fan base. From its humble origins in the bars and clubs of Adelaide, in recent years the band has become a truly international affair, with members from Australia, the UK, France, and the USA.

HOLD: Bob McClure Play Readers event
2026-08-29 10:00 | Smith Wilkes Hall, Smith Wilkes Hall

The Rt. Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton
2026-08-30 10:45 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
The Rt. Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton is the senior pastor of Chautauqua Institution. Formerly the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland and Canon Pastor of Washington National Cathedral, where he directed the Cathedral’s Center for Prayer and Pilgrimage, Sutton has also served as a college chaplain, parish priest, and professor of homiletics and liturgy at Vanderbilt University Divinity School. Sutton is a frequent leader of retreats focused on spirituality, nonviolence, and social justice, including multiple missions to South Africa. He co-founded Contemplative Outreach of Maryland and Washington, an ecumenical network of churches and individuals committed to centering prayer and renewing the contemplative gospel for daily living.
Sutton is a prolific writer, and has contributed to multiple books, including The Diversity of Centering Prayer and Reclaiming the Gospel of Peace: Challenging the Epidemic of Gun Violence. Bishop Sutton has been named by the Center for American Progress as one of “Fourteen Faith Leaders to Watch” for his faith-led efforts to promote nonviolent solutions to conflicts.
Sutton is a prolific writer, and has contributed to multiple books, including The Diversity of Centering Prayer and Reclaiming the Gospel of Peace: Challenging the Epidemic of Gun Violence. Bishop Sutton has been named by the Center for American Progress as one of “Fourteen Faith Leaders to Watch” for his faith-led efforts to promote nonviolent solutions to conflicts.

Indigo Girls
2026-09-10 19:00 | Amphitheater, Amphitheater
Released in 1989, Indigo Girls’ eponymous major label debut sold over two million copies under the power of singles “Closer to Fine” and “Kid Fears” and turned Indigo Girls into one of the most successful folk duos in history. Over a thirty-five-year career that began in clubs around their native Atlanta, Georgia, the multi-Grammy-winning duo of Emily Saliers and Amy Ray has recorded sixteen studio albums, sold over 15 million records, and built a dedicated, enduring following across the globe. Rolling Stone describes them as the “ideal duet partners.” Committed and uncompromising activists, they work on issues like immigration reform (El Refugio), LGBTQ advocacy, education (Imagination Library), death penalty reform, and Native American rights. They are co-founders of Honor the Earth, a non-profit dedicated to the survival of sustainable Native communities, Indigenous environmental justice, and green energy solutions.
Their latest record, Look Long is a stirring and eclectic collection of songs that finds the duo of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers reunited in the studio with their strongest backing band to date. “We joke about being old, but what is old when it comes to music? We’re still a bar band at heart,” says Saliers. “While our lyrics and writing approach may change, our passion for music feels the same as it did when we were 25-years-old.” “As time has gone on, our audience has become more expansive and diverse, giving me a sense of joy,” she adds. To hear those collective voices raise into one, singing along and overpowering the band itself, one realizes the importance Indigo Girls’ music has in this moment. In our often-terrifying present, we are all in search of a daily refuge, a stolen hour or two, to engage with something that brings us joy, perspective, or maybe just calm. As one bar band once put it, “We go to the doctor, we go to the mountains…we go to the Bible, we go through the work out.” For millions, they go to the Indigo Girls. On Look Long they’ll find a creative partnership certain of its bearings, forging a way forward.
