Diana Butler Bass, Ph.D., is an award-winning author, popular speaker, inspiring preacher, and commentator on religion and contemporary spirituality. Her latest book, A Beautiful Year, won the 2026 Wilbur Prize, her unprecedented third. Diana’s passion is sharing great ideas to change lives and the world—from informing the public about spiritual trends, challenging conventional narratives about...
"The Quran and What is Says About Other Faiths"
Launched in 2012 by Cleveland Orchestra principal clarinet emeritus Franklin Cohen and daughter Diana Cohen, concertmaster of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, ChamberFest Cleveland burst onto the scene with a Big Bang! Steeped in a lifetime of participation in music festivals, the Cohens dreamt of bringing a world-class chamber music festival to the Cleveland community. ChamberFest...
Mike Thornton, jazz vocalist of grit and sophistication, takes center stage with The Midnight Quartet in a performance charged with high-octane energy and deep blues soul. Blending hard-swinging standards with electrifying improvisation, Thornton’s commanding voice rides effortlessly over the band’s tight, driving rhythms. Each tune ignites with hot, explosive solos, delivering a night where smoky...
Venerable Jissai Prince-Cherry began practicing Zen in 1994. Since then, she has maintained a daily personal practice and regularly participates in group sittings, intensive Zen meditation retreats, and periods of residential training including at a Zen monastery in Japan. She works closely with her teacher, Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede, successor to Roshi Philip Kapleau, the founder...
The Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde serves as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. In this role, she serves as spiritual leader for the congregations and Episcopal schools in the District of Columbia and four Maryland counties that comprise the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. The first woman elected to this position, she also serves...
Chautauqua Science Group weekly lecture. Terry Gordon, PhD, is Research Professor, Department of Medicine, at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, where his research program employs both human and animal models to study susceptibility factors—including genetics, age, and gender—underlying the adverse pulmonary and cardiac effects of environmental and occupational air pollutants.
Continuing a week celebrating “Icons and Instigators: Women Who Change the World,” Chautauqua proudly welcome Alyse Nelson, CEO of Vital Voices, a non-profit founded on the simple idea that nations and communities cannot move forward without women’s voices in leadership positions. In addition to her solo remarks, Nelson will be joined onstage by several women...
Chautauqua Bird, Tree & Garden Club lunchtime lecture series Gretchen Goldman is an American environmental scientist, policy advocate, and the president of the Union of Concerned Scientists. In 2024 she was the climate change research and technology director at the U.S. Department of Transportation and served between July 2021 and 2023 as the assistant director...
Venerable Jissai Prince-Cherry began practicing Zen in 1994. Since then, she has maintained a daily personal practice and regularly participates in group sittings, intensive Zen meditation retreats, and periods of residential training including at a Zen monastery in Japan. She works closely with her teacher, Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede, successor to Roshi Philip Kapleau, the founder...
Diana Butler Bass kicks off the 2026 Interfaith Lecture Series, beginning the Summer Assembly season with a solo lecture on Monday, June 29, 2026. The following day, on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, Bass will return to the Hall of Philosophy for a conversation with Bishop Miriann Edgar Budde, the Chaplain during Week One, "Women of...