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Award-winning writer Fred Bahnson works to promote a lifestyle driven by an appreciation for agriculture’s interaction with faith and spirituality. He’s the founding director of the Food, Health and Ecological Well-Being Program, a national leadership development program at the Wake Forest University School of Divinity that trains and equips faith leaders, environmental advocates and activists.

Bahnson will deliver his speech, “Soil and Sacrament: A Journey Among the Keepers of the Earth,” to continue Week Two of the Interfaith Lecture Series “Reconnecting with the Natural World” at 2 p.m. Wednesday, July 6, in the Hall of Philosophy.

“I’m going to be talking about the need for people of faith to cultivate an ecological imagination,” Bahnson said. “For too long, we — in Western religious traditions at least — have perpetuated a myth that we are somehow separate from nature.”

Bahnson said everything comes down to relationship and proximity; people can’t maintain deep relationships without being in close proximity to each other, the Earth and spirituality.

“Most of us are separated from the natural world through our built environments — through living life in cities,” Bahnson said. “A lot of our work as modern humans is to reclaim that relationship, and that’s where we can start to heal the damage we’ve caused.”

Hopeful that people come away from his lecture inspired, Bahnson said he plans to share stories from different faith communities that are restoring their ecosystems: from the church forests of Ethiopia to people in the United States replanting forests and practicing sustainable agriculture.

Bahnson said in a number of religious traditions, food is a symbol of mystery, nourishment and communion. He said he wants people to learn how to receive food as a gift, versus a commodity from the store.

“We’re all farmers by extension, just by the fact that we eat, so we should know something about where our food comes from and how it’s grown,” Bahnson said. “Beginning with the spirituality of gratitude, I think is the starting place.”

Bahnson visited several farming and agriculture locations for research and experience. He said he wanted to “see the natural world as full of God’s presence.” 

Bahnson has been to a Trappist monastery where the monks grow their own shiitake and oyster mushrooms, a Protestant community garden in western North Carolina called The Lord’s Acre, a Pentecostal farm and coffee roasting operation in Skagit Valley, Washington, as well as a Jewish farm in western Connecticut.

“In each of these places, I was reading about the spirituality of foods, spirituality of the land, looking at people or writing about people,” Bahnson said “(I read about people) who were reclaiming a more intimate connection with the land through food and through agriculture, and how that was inspiring their spirituality and their religious practice.”

Bahnson said he wants everyone to incorporate the divine image into themselves, along with nature. 

“I want people to have (faith) and understand that we’ve been living with a dualism between human nature, and we need to break down that dualism,” Bahnson said.

In an annual tradition, Chautauqua School of Dance welcomes back alumni from multiple companies to reunite on the stage where they previously trained. 

“That’s what’s so special about Chautauqua, because it had such an impact on their youth and their growing up and their training that they want to come back and give back to the community,” said Sasha Janes, interim director for Chautauqua School of Dance. 

The performance at 8:15 p.m. Wednesday, July 6, in the Amphitheater will feature nine alumni dancers who represent six different companies, or are freelancing. 

All trained at Chautauqua at different points in their careers. The Alumni All-Star Ballet Gala will feature a wide range of contemporary and classical dance. The program will include Alvin Ailey’s “Fix Me Jesus,” which is an excerpt from “Revelations;” “This Bitter Earth” by Christopher Wheeldon; “Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux” by George Balanchine; and many more.

“If I pick up the phone and ask these dancers to come back, it’s always a resounding ‘yes,’ because their experience here was so special,” Janes said. “I think it’s more that than we trained them. We didn’t train them, but we certainly helped their careers, and we gave them an experience that was second to none.”

The alumni performing include: Chun Wai Chan, New York City Ballet; Isabella LaFreniere, New York City Ballet (2006, 2012); Danielle Diniz, freelance artist; Anna Gerberich, Joffrey Ballet (2004); Pete Leo Walker, BalletX (2010); James Gilmer, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (2008, 2010); Jacqueline Green, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (2006); Brooklyn Mack, English National Ballet Guest Principal (2001); and Risa Mochizuki, New Jersey Ballet.

“Chautauqua’s renowned for getting some of the world’s best performers, and I think it’s important to realize that dance is no exception,” Janes said. “Even if you are not a dance aficionado, I always think that if you can go and see the best at something you’ll appreciate it.”

Janes, who will also be giving a pre-performance talk for the Chautauqua Dance Circle at 7 p.m. tonight in Smith Wilkes Hall, considers this evening to be a special and emotional night as Gerberich, Walker and Green have announced their retirement. 

“I’m not sure if we’re going to see them on stage in a dance capacity ever again,” Janes said. “This is sort of a one-off opportunity to really come to appreciate these guys one last time for one last dance.”

He described the evening as a combination of the past, present and future.

“We’re seeing the past now because they’re retiring, present, and future because we will have some of the students on stage, too,” Janes said. “Hopefully in five or 10 years, we have some of those very soon-to-be dance professionals come back and be the professionals that we’ve seen on stage.”

Some of the alumni dancers will be hosting master classes with students; these classes remind Janes of the beginning of his dance career. 

“When I was just a young boy starting to dance, seeing some of those professionals at the height of their game, it’s incredibly impactful,” Janes said.

He highlights the value of alumni dancers coming back to teach the Chautauqua School of Dance students. 

“I think for these guys to see dancers that actually came through this very program, that have gone on to new heights, and to have them walking around the studios and taking class with them — the impact of them being here, you can’t really put a price tag on it,” Janes said.

The ice caps were once icebergs. The icebergs were formerly glaciers. Climate change has proven to be a prevalent issue worldwide, and Faithkeeper Oren Lyons of the Onondaga Nation of the Haudenosaunee is an advocate for proving the importance of taking care of the Earth.

Lyons will be presenting “Nature is in Charge of All Life” at 2 p.m. Tuesday, July 5, in the Hall of Philosophy for the Interfaith Lecture Series theme “Reconnecting with the Natural World,” also as part of the first-ever Haudenosaunee Confederacy Day at Chautauqua. 

“My lecture is a warning,” Lyons said. “I hope that it alerts people to the reality that we’re looking at, that their powers are not addressing. (The Biden) administration is the first one that has really spoken directly to the issue.”

The six nations of the Iroquois Confederacy make up the Haudenosaunee, where Lyons and other chiefs “have seen a lot” and feel “the deterioration of the Earth is pretty obvious.”

Shortly before the American Revolutionary War, the Founding Fathers met with the Haudenosaunee to discuss what the colonies needed to do to become a separate nation from Britain. 

“(The Haudenosaunee) advised (the Americans) to make a union like ours and have peace and prosperity, and work together instead of fighting each other,” Lyons said. “Little is known by most of (Millenials and Generation Z regarding the) history of the United States, how involved the six nations were in the development of this country all together.”

Lyons said Indigenous history is almost fully erased from K-12 schools and college curriculums. He was a professor at the University at Buffalo for 37 years and saw that erasure in the history curriculum.

“I’m going to try to enlarge people’s understanding of the history that has almost been erased. … (Curriculums) don’t talk about us,” Lyons said. “I’m going to try to enlighten people on the principles that we need if we’re going to survive as a species. We’re in serious trouble.”

Embracing a large, life-long perspective, Lyons said his concern for future generations stems from the ongoing lack of resources.

“My concern is a point of no return. When is it going to be too late to do anything to stop the deterioration?” Lyons said “If there is a point of no return, which I believe there is, once you pass that point, there’s nothing you can do. It will be down from there on into an abyss, and we’re headed in that direction right now.”

John Mohawk, the late historian from Seneca Nation, was a friend of Lyons’ and made an important observation: “Well, as far as I can see, the human population is still an experiment,” Mohawk said. “So it looks like we’re failing the experiment, but it’s not too late.”

In 2000, Lyons spoke at the United Nations to deliver a similar message: “The ice is melting.” As a faithkeeper of the Haudenosaunee people, he noted that they are all given a responsibility for the Earth.

“When we first accepted this responsibility, (we were told), ‘You are now in charge of life,’ ” Lyons said. “That includes everything that’s alive. The flowers, the trees, the animals, all life, that’s your responsibility, not just people. People are a part of all that, but responsible for the whole.”

Lyons said overpopulation is a very serious factor of why the Earth is heating up so rapidly. 

“We’re like the Titanic as it was heading towards the iceberg, and the captain, crew and the whole ship was trying their very best to turn the Titanic,” he said. “It was so ponderous and so huge, and they didn’t make it. They didn’t make that turn, and I see the human population in that same context.”

Sally Jewell truly believes the outdoors unlocks our curiosity. For her, that curiosity began as a teenager when she climbed an unerupted Mount St. Helens. America’s wild spaces continue to inspire her to this day.

Taking the lectern at 10:45 a.m. Tuesday, July 5, in the Amphitheater, she will consider the importance of America’s public lands: to heal and fuel the nation’s soul, to find comfort and inspiration in a reconnection with the wild, and to discover one’s inherent curiosity. She hopes that her lecture will inspire all her listeners to seek more enjoyment on America’s public lands.

“I think nature was a critical element in making me a curious person,” Jewell said, “and that curiosity has been instrumental in my whole career and remains an asset that keeps me engaged and helps me understand how it can be part of the solution.” 

Continuing the Chautauqua Lecture Series Week Two’s theme of  “The Wild: Reconnecting with Our Natural World,” Jewell — businesswoman, conservationist and lifelong mountaineer — has many insights to share.

Jewell will address what she describes as a growing disconnect between people and nature: how with urbanization and large-scale development, landscapes once “taken for granted” are no longer accessible.

“I strongly believe that human beings are part of nature, and they need nature to thrive,” Jewell said, noting how the pandemic has shone a spotlight on America’s search for outdoor spaces to find respite, relaxation, “a place that feels safe, a place to breathe.”

From 2013 to 2017, Jewell served as the 51st United States Secretary of the Interior, before which she was chief executive officer of outdoor retailer REI. 

During Jewell’s tenure with REI, she recognized that supporting open-air recreation required both a “healthy outdoors that’s available” and authenticity to their mission of “connecting people to nature.” At that time, the company led initiatives to get more young people to participate in the outdoors and committed to not selling outdoor-themed video games.

Jewell took knowledge gained at REI and applied it during her time with the U.S. Department of Interior, creating what she called a “continuum of engagement” for youth to explore nature and find their curiosity. 

In her lecture today, she will discuss the continuum’s components, which include taking kids from playing in the outdoors to learning in the outdoors, from “the best teacher, Mother Nature” in “the classroom with no walls.” She hopes that through these efforts to engage young people, their eyes will be opened to “opportunities to be stewards of these landscapes.” 

Spending time exploring America’s public lands is especially important, Jewell said, because people cannot advocate for nature’s conservation and preservation if they haven’t been exposed to it.

“Advocacy for the natural world is going to be essential to all of our health long term,” Jewell said. 

She acknowledges, however, that with each generation, engaging youth with the natural world and allowing them to kindle their curiosity becomes more and more difficult. Evolving expectations for young people, changing cultures and increasing distractions continue to further alienate people from nature. 

“It’s tough with the pull of electronics, in particular, that tend to disconnect us from nature, and yet don’t enable us to become our whole selves in the way that I think we need for our health and well-being,” Jewell said. 

She plans to share some of her journey as an immigrant from London to the United States, beginning a lifelong connection with nature in the Pacific Northwest. 

“It’s part of (my) DNA,” Jewell said. “Access to the outdoors and trips that I did as a child were hugely influential in instilling curiosity and grounding me out in Mother Nature.” 

After a summer of virtual courses through CHQ Assembly in 2020, and a shorter season with a smaller orchestra due to COVID-19 protocols last summer, at long last the Music School Festival Orchestra is back to its full form, and set to have their opening performance at 8:15 p.m. Tuesday, July 5, in the Amphitheater under the baton of Maestro Timothy Muffitt.

Following a week of rehearsals, “the orchestra is showing remarkable promise,” said Muffitt, MSFO artistic director, and he anticipates that tonight’s performance won’t just be a “spectacular program, but a great start to an exciting season.”

Opening night is also a long-awaited opportunity for repertoire that’s been planned since before the COVID-19 pandemic. The evening opens with Zhou Tian’s “Gift,” and then segues into Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 2, “a pre-pandemic holdover,” Muffitt said, with pianist Chengcheng Yao, who is an alum of the School of Music, and the winner of the 2019 Sigma Alpha Iota Piano Competition.

But looming large among the planned pre-pandemic repertoire is the closing number: Saint-Saën’s Symphony No. 3 in C Minor, op. 78 — known simply as the “Organ Symphony.”

“In 2020, we intended to play it in memory of Chautauqua’s long-time and beloved organist Jared Jacobsen, whom we lost in 2019,” Muffitt said. “We are staying with that plan, and dedicated the performance to Jared’s memory.”

At the Massey Memorial Organ, with the full backing of the MSFO, will be Josh Stafford, director of sacred music and the first-ever holder of the Jared Jacobsen Chair for the Organ, named so in honor of his mentor. 

“It’s always a thrill to play the Massey alongside an orchestra,” Stafford said. “An instrument known well for its ability to lead hymn singing, accompany choirs and play solo repertoire, it is equally well suited to functioning as a concert hall organ with orchestra.”

For the organ’s part, the Saint-Saëns piece is best known for one particular chord, Stafford said — “a glorious C Major chord on full organ that comes seemingly out of nowhere. … But for me, the best moments are the softer ones, when the Massey has the chance to accompany and blend with the various colors of the orchestra.”

It’s not the first time this season Stafford has collaborated with students in the MSFO; several members joined him and Nicholas Stigall, this year’s organ scholar, for the first Sunday Service of Worship and Sermon in the Amp. For that morning, they performed Strauss’ Feierlicher Einzug TrV 224 “Solemn Entry.” To share the stage, in any capacity, with the musicians of the MSFO, Stafford said, is “such a joy.”

“Joy” is a recurring theme among School of Music administration, including both Muffitt and Schools of Performing and Visual Arts Manager Sarah Malinoski-Umberger.

“The fact that we have gotten everyone here, and on stage together, is monumental,” Malinoski-Umberger said. “These musicians are incredibly talented, and by far, the most impressive pool of applicants we have ever fielded.”

This is the first time that many of the students have played in a full orchestra since the pandemic began, she said, which meant that the School of Music planning for 2022 was “an ambitious plan that took many, many months, and many amazing people to pull off.”

“Having the full group back allows us to return to our full summer of programming, including two full chamber music sessions, and collaborations with our School of Dance and our Opera Conservatory,” she said. “And getting to introduce them all to Chautauqua on opening night? It’s a joy.”

When Diana Cohen was a child, she looked up to her father Franklin Cohen as her musical teacher. When she became an adult, she teamed up with him to create ChamberFest Cleveland, whose goal is to bring chamber music to the Cleveland area and, today, to Chautauqua Institution.

Chautauquans can experience ChamberFest Cleveland at 4 p.m. Monday, July 4, in Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall. 

“We’ve played for years and years as a family and especially me and my dad, as there is a lot of repertoire for clarinet and violin,” said Diana Cohen, founder and co-artistic director of ChamberFest Cleveland. “I grew up playing for him. … He’s always been one of my most inspiring teachers.”

Their collaborations ultimately led them to co-found ChamberFest Cleveland in 2012.

“It’s been such a wonderful joy to share music with him and my whole family,” Cohen said.

Not only are Cohen and her father involved with ChamberFest Cleveland, but so is Cohen’s husband Roman Rabinovich, who is a co-artistic director for the chamber music group, making this truly a family affair.

Cohen family members are not the only people enjoying ChamberFest Cleveland, though.

“We’ve made it now to 10 years in Cleveland,” Cohen said. “ChamberFest Cleveland has really grown into one of the major pillars of the art community, and we just love sharing music … to be able to watch people connecting onstage through eye contact, with smiles, and the give and take involved. It’s really quite beautiful and quite unique to chamber music.”

Today, ChamberFest Cleveland will perform Claude Debussy’s “Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp,” followed by Johannes Brahms’ Serenade No. 1 in D major, op. 11.

Cohen described the Debussy piece as “perfect in every way. … It’s very light and ethereal and sparkling.”

This piece, with its feathery qualities and three-instrument chamber group, is then contrasted with Brahms’ Serenade.

“We have the delicate French to the more beefy and lush Brahms,” Cohen said.

Part of the richness of the Brahms piece is created by a larger range of instruments in the chamber group than is in the Debussy piece.

“There’s kind of an earthy quality to (Brahms’ Serenade) and a rusticness to it, especially with the addition of a horn and a double bass,” Cohen said. “At the same time, there are so many sublime, long, spinning melodies, which are just spectacular. … We have not been able to offer Chautauqua such a large group before. … It makes for such a rich sound world.”

When a tree falls in a lonely forest, and no animal is nearby to hear it, does it make a sound? The Church of the Wild movement encourages all to become one with nature, and Victoria Loorz, Wild Church pastor and eco-spiritual director, is hoping “people take away a yearning that’s within them to belong to the land.”

Loorz will be giving her lecture “Restoring Spiritual Practices to Reconnect with Our Place as Sacred,” to start off the Interfaith Lecture Series Week Two theme, “Reconnecting with the Natural World,” at 2 p.m. Monday, July 4, in the Hall of Philosophy.

“(My lecture) is about how our separation from nature has not only impacted the Earth, and the very obvious climate crisis,” Loorz said. “(Separation of faith and nature) is destructive to our own spirituality, our own emotions and our own sense of belonging to the world.”

When people just look at the planet as is without incorporating faith, the Earth becomes objectified, Loorz said. The separation impacts the rest of the world and forces people to reevaluate their needs.

“When something gets objectified, you are in the process of desacralizing it,” Loorz said. “(Separation) puts us in a position where we prioritize our own needs over the needs of everybody else … and that obviously destroys the planet a little bit at a time.”

Loorz’s work includes creating spiritual practices to allow people to deepen their intimacy with others and the rest of nature. She said there’s a difference between saying “nature is my church” and taking it seriously.

“These spiritual practices, when practiced together in a group of people with intentionality to connect with the Earth as sacred, is church,” Loorz said. 

All of the components of a “normal” church are in the Wild services, with elements of nature added in. The service includes liturgies, an altered version of communion, singing and drumming, prayer and silent reflecting.

Loorz led a service last month for people who had never experienced a Church of the Wild service before.

“They’ll say that was the first time that they had ever slowed down and really listened to the land,” Loorz said. “It’s a reaction of, ‘This is something I’ve never done before, and yet it’s something I’ve always known, it’s something I used to do when I was a child, naturally.’ ”

The Church of the Wild movement, while having primarily Christian traditions and attendees, is open to any faith. 

“The connection between us and every other being is sacred,” Loorz said. “That’s whether you’re part of a Christian religion or Jewish, or a spiritual but not religious (faith).”

A typical Church of the Wild service includes attendees wandering in nature and connecting with what they see. Loorz said people often come back with writings, poems, songs or other forms of art to share.

“The focus is on an invitation to wander,” Loorz said. “After some time in gathering together, everybody is invited to wander outside the circle and be drawn to a particular place, tree, animal or the sky … and bring back what comes up for you.”

Loorz said integrating nature and faith forces a reality of connecting with all things. Indigenous people have always had a “land-based gratitude,” she said, but those in the Western world have to go back many generations to remember this connection.

“When we disconnect from the rest of the natural world to engage in spirituality, there’s something missing, no matter what religious tradition you’re in,” Loorz said. “… This is really more of a movement of remembering for all of us.”

When Bob Inglis, former Republican U.S. representative for South Carolina’s 4th district, ran for his seventh year in office, his 18-year-old son told him he would vote for him on one condition: if Inglis “cleaned up his act” and took a stance on climate change. This was one step of a metamorphosis Inglis underwent to become a conservative politician passionate about climate change. 

“I dismissed climate change as a figment of our imagination for six years,” Inglis said. “That was pretty ignorant: We conservatives with shrinking science denial are just going to change the subject. Now, conservatives are beginning to realize the strength of their own principles.” 

At 10:45 a.m. Monday, July 4, in the Amphitheater, Inglis will incorporate core principles from his organization republicEn in his lecture to discuss climate change from a conservative perspective. His lecture launches the Chautauqua Lecture Series Week Two theme “The Wild: Reconnecting with Our Natural World.”

Inglis is the founder and executive director of republicEn, an educational initiative based at George Mason University that aims to combat climate change and enlighten conservatives about the true cost of carbon emissions. 

With over 10,000 conservative voices, republicEn strives to inspire Republicans to act on climate change through free enterprise solutions in a movement called the EcoRight.

“America is an indispensable nation; conservatives are the indispensable parties,” Inglis said.  “Finding a solution to climate change won’t be done without America. America won’t act without conservatives being on board. republicEn is encouraging conservatives to overcome that idea they believe to be false.”

After a life-changing trip to Antarctica and the Great Barrier Reef in 2009, Inglis became inspired to protect the environment and use his position in Congress to advocate for climate change. 

In 2010, he ran in the South Carolina primaries as a Republican with climate change initiatives on his ticket. He introduced the Raise Wages, Cut Carbon Act in 2009, which called for an implementation of a revenue-neutral carbon tax in exchange for equal cuts in payroll taxes. The introduction of this legislation ultimately lost Inglis his congressional seat. 

Inglis launched the Energy and Enterprise Initiative at GMU in 2012, which, two years later, evolved into the grassroots organization republicEn. The “En” in the name stands both for energy and enterprise. Inglis received the 2015 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for his leading voice in conservative climate change initiatives. He held a resident fellowship at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics in 2011, a visiting fellowship in energy at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment in 2012, and a resident fellowship at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics in 2014.  

Inglis believes that economics, and not regulation or incentives, is the way to approach the discussion on climate change. 

“(Pricing) is the way to make accountability for the side effects of burning fossil fuels worldwide,” he said. “As a result, 7 billion people will start seeing the true cost of burning fossil fuels, because that cost will be reflected in the price of the products.”  

The biggest challenge in educating conservatives about the true cost of climate change is validating Republican voices in a left-controlled conversation, according to Inglis. 

“Using the right language, and having validators? That’s the challenge,” he said. “The language of the left has dominated the climate conversation. The language of the right is a language of energy abundance and innovations through free enterprise. We just have completely different languages and, then, completely different validators.”

Inglis hopes to bring conservatives to the climate change conversation in order for the left and right to work toward progress.  

“What’s so exciting about conservatives in climate change conversations is that you have people with the liberty of enlightened self-interest pursuing their self-interest,” Inglis said. “That will lead to innovation very rapidly.”

Carbon emissions and mass burning of fossil fuels may have already done irreparable damage, but Inglis continues to push for climate change measures that will mitigate future harm to the planet. 

“I’m fond of saying we better hope it’s human caused,” he said. “To any cause, we have got some hope. If it’s not, we’re toast. Climate change is human caused. So it’s really good news.”

It’s been three years since Principal Pops Conductor Stuart Chafetz stood at his stand in front of the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra for the annual Independence Day Celebration, before a full audience and the sweeping, unfurling of the American flag as the evening’s grand finale.

With a truncated season in 2021, and the talents of the Music School Festival Orchestra and School of Music Voice Program taking the patriotic reins instead, this summer Chafetz is back, with the full contingent of the CSO and soprano Dee Donasco, for this year’s Fourth of July festivities. They take the stage at 8:15 p.m. Monday, July 4, in the Amphitheater.

“I think the most exciting thing is that it’s been three summers to get back to this tradition of just a good time, and fun, and having the whole family be able to enjoy this,” Chafetz said. 

“We’ve been waiting so long to enjoy this wonderful, festive weekend here. There’s not any other place like it. Chautauqua — it’s the greatest.”

The evening is packed with Chautauqua favorites, from Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever,” the “Armed Forces Salute” and “God Bless America,” to the paper-bag-popping bonanza of Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture.” (If that’s not enough of a bonanza, fittingly, the evening also includes David Rose’s theme to the long-running television hit “Bonanza.”)

The rest of the line-up features Jager’s “Esprit de Corps,” Sousa’s “The Liberty Bell” march, “Ah! Je Veux Vivre” from Gounod’s opera Romeo et Juliette, and some musical theater favorites: “Seventy-Six Trombones” from The Music Man, and “I Could Have Danced All Night” from My Fair Lady. The theme from “Bewitched” is also on deck, as is beloved American composer John Williams’ “Can You Read My Mind?,” the love theme from “Superman.”

But Chafetz and Donasco have a few tricks up their sleeves for the program, and the audience will just have to wait to hear for themselves.

“They’re meant to be surprises, so we’ll just crank it out and have a party,” Chafetz said.

Donasco is no stranger to Chautauqua, or to performing with Chafetz. In fact, the two were just in Ohio on Saturday for the Columbus Symphony’s Patriotic Pops concert. On Sunday, the duo drove from Columbus, where Chafetz is also principal pops conductor, to Chautauqua. For both of them, it’s a bit of a homecoming.

“The beautiful part of all of this is that we met at Chautauqua in 2012,” Chafetz said. 

Donasco was a Chautauqua Opera Company Apprentice Artist and a featured soloist in the CSO, where Chafetz was timpanist — a percussive presence he held at Chautauqua for 22 years.

“She was singing this beautiful, classical aria, and then later in the summer we did Opera Pops,” Chafetz said. “And I couldn’t believe it was the same person — the ability to come from a legit opera tune, and then a pops performance like nobody’s business? It blew me away.”

In the years since leaving Chautauqua, Donasco has performed with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Chattanooga Symphony & Opera, Nashville Opera, North Carolina Symphony and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, including several engagements with Chafetz.

“She’s just terrific, and to be able to have her back where we met — it’s full circle,” he said.

Music is a way to bring everybody together, Chafetz said, especially now that he and the CSO are “back, after all this wild time.”

“I’ve missed Chautauqua in its capacity,” he said. “The July 4 concert is going to be one of those wonderful experiences that we’ve missed, to have together. I’m just so excited to be back.”

“I have played the piano longer than I have been a preacher. The intersection of music and theology has shaped my life,” said the Rev. Randall K. Bush at the 10:45 a.m. Sunday morning service of worship and sermon in the Amphitheater on July 3. 

The title of his sermon was “Intervals of Faith (Major and Minor Thirds): To Everything There is a Season.” The Scripture text was Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. His sermon was divided into two phases: a “Music 101” phase explaining the interval for the day and a sermon providing the theological application of the interval and Scripture.

There are eight notes in an octave, and between notes there are intervals. To move from C to G is a fifth because they are five notes apart. From C to F is a fourth because the notes are four notes apart.

“The most magical intervals are the thirds,” Bush said. 

A major triad is built on a major third, as in the prelude for the morning’s service, “Andante,” from Symphony No. 94 by Franz Joseph Haydn. Major thirds are common to hear, as in Mozart’s Piano Sonata in C Major. Bush played snippets of both musical pieces.

Minor thirds also play a significant role. 

“ ‘Greensleeves’ is a good example,” Bush said as he played several measures. “These are both important intervals, and we will talk more about their place in faith.”

The second part of Bush’s sermon took place after the offering and the reading of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. 

“There is something calming about Ecclesiastes. It has a rhythm like a porch swing,” he said. “A time to be born, a time to die … a time to plant, a time to pluck up … a time to weep, a time to laugh … a time to love, a time to hate … a time for war, and a time for peace.”

Bush compared reading this Scripture to breathing in and out. The inevitable cycles in Ecclesiastes fits with the Chautauqua Lecture Series Week Two theme “The Wild: Reconnecting with Our Natural World.”

“Nature is choreographed around cyclical patterns. The tides go in and out, the moon waxes and wanes, winter follows fall,” he said. “These events happen to and around us. Like the song ‘Sunrise, Sunset’ in Fiddler on the Roof, ‘one season following another, laden with happiness and tears.’ ”  

Major thirds are bright and speak of beauty. Minor thirds reflect introspection. 

“One is not better than the other; it is a mood choice,” Bush said. “Psalm 22 is a minor third: a lament. Psalm 150 is a major third: praise and joy.”

Similarly in the Christian Scriptures, Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane or the story of the raising of Lazarus are minor thirds. Mary Magdalene returning from the empty tomb or, at the end of Matthew’s gospel, when Jesus promises to be with the disciples to the end of the age, are major thirds.

“In our lives we all cycle through Good Friday and Easter,” Bush told the congregation. 

He asked the congregation, “Are our lives shaped by forces beyond our control? Scientific, atheistic fatalists would say yes, we are but players on the world stage. Religious fatalists would say that a head cold or the path of a tornado is predestined. Both views take us out of the equation.”

Ecclesiastes does not have the final word, its cycles are not the complete truth. 

“Faith pushes us. We have divine providence and free will, inspiration by the Spirit and human ability,” Bush said. “The sins we commit have a ripple effect, as does the heavenly grace that descends on us.”

He continued, “These events never happen in isolation. The total is more than the sum. Is God in control? Yes. Is this the Anthropocene age, where humans are changing the world? Yes. Whether it is providence or free will, disaster or an earthly paradise, you are part of the answer. Things just don’t happen to us.”

Church folks, he told the congregation, hate ambiguity. 

“We want clarity. But that is not given in this life. We are given something better. We have a spectrum of colors, emotions and cultures,” Bush said. “Life is not monotone and on this planet we call home, we can look into the sky and see other planets.”

The poet Mary Oliver asked, “What will you do with your one wild and precious life?” 

“Life is a symphony with harmony and dissonance,” Bush said. “I would not have it any other way, and neither would God.” 

Ludwig von Beethoven lived in a time racked by revolution. His music pushed back against fabulism, a form of magical realism that puts fantastical elements into everyday settings. The beginning of the last movement of his Symphony No. 9 starts negatively, but the baritone soloist interrupts with the text from the poet Goethe. The singer urges his friends to not sing melancholy songs, but songs of joy with sparks of the divine.

The music moves from D minor to D major.

“The ‘Ode to Joy’ has inspired people for 200 years,” Bush said, “Do not go gently into that good night. The ‘Ode to Joy,’ by God’s grace, shapes our lives and seasons. It challenges us to be inspired.”

In the same way, he said, we cannot tell the American story in a simple way. There is triumph and tragedy.

“Our history is more complex, therefore richer,” Bush said. “We have to talk about the exploitation of Indigenous people, the theory of democracy and the sin of slavery, the Civil War and the race to the moon. The story is unfinished; it is still being written.”

“Civil rights must be addressed, reparations made and justice guaranteed,” he said. “What are our choices today? Embrace the messiness. God is not finished engaging with us.”

The seasons of life shape and are shaped by the faithful. 

“If we set our faces toward the horizon, we can shape the seasons yet to come for justice, resurrection and promise,” he said.

Christianity is not meant to be therapeutic, only major chords and Hallmark cards. 

“Christian faith takes the minor key seriously,” Bush said. “Some seasons come upon us unbidden and some by our own hands. Through eternal love and hope, we will not be deterred ever.”

The Rev. Natalie Hanson, interim senior pastor of Chautauqua, presided. Melissa Spas, vice president of religion at Chautauqua, read the Scripture. Joshua Stafford, director of sacred music and holder of the Jared Jacobsen Chair for the Organ, played “Andante,” from Symphony No. 94, by Franz Joseph Haydn. The Motet Choir sang “All Things to All,” music by Craig Courtney and words by Pamela Martin. The offertory anthem was “Too Splendid for Speech but Ripe for a Song,” with music by Frederick Swann and words by Thomas Troeger. The Motet Choir was joined by the congregation on the final verse. The choir was directed by Stafford, and Nicholas Stigall accompanied the choir on the Massey Memorial Organ. The postlude, played by Stafford, was “Toccata en Ré Majeur,” by Marcel Lanquetuit. Support for this week’s services is provided by the Mr. and Mrs. William Uhler Follansbee Memorial Chaplaincy.

Many individuals feel helpless when trying to take meaningful action and make change amid issues much larger than themselves. But Georgette Bennett, who founded the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding in 1992, recognizes how much power one individual holds.

Bennett visited Chautauqua to close Week One’s Interfaith Lecture Series, July 1. Following the theme of “America’s Global Conscience,” Bennett titled her lecture, “When America’s Global Conscience Fails: How the Syrian Crisis Upended the World Order and How Individual Conscience Can Help to Put it Right.”

Bennett has experience in a variety of fields, including sociology, journalism and philanthropy. She is a published author, and her main focus is on conflict resolution and intergroup relations. 

In 2013, Bennett founded the Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees, which has worked to raise awareness of the Syrian war and mobilize more than $250 million of humanitarian aid to benefit more than 2.7 million Syrian war victims.

“Most of my family perished in the Holocaust,” Bennett said. “It may seem counterintuitive for me to take on the cause of Syrian war victims because most likely, they want to see every Jew dead and Israel driven into the sea. It’s not their fault. That’s just the way that they’re indoctrinated from childhood on.”

Her journey of supporting Syrian refugees proved that “even sworn enemies can see the humanity in the other.”

Bennett’s journey began in Budapest in 1946. As a result of World War II, many cities in Hungary were demolished, including Bennett’s home. 

“During the siege of Budapest, 38,000 civilians died of starvation and bombings. My own mother lost a pregnancy lugging a sack of rotten potatoes home because there was nothing else to eat,” Bennett said.

She recalled the helplessness of 937 Jewish refugees who embarked on a journey of asylum on the S.S. St. Louis in 1939. They were denied landing in Cuba, Canada and Miami. 

“They had no choice,” Bennett said. “The ship had to turn around and go back to Europe, where 300 of its passengers perished in the Holocaust. And the silence of the world was deafening.”

The horrific memories of the Holocaust resurfaced as Bennett saw the Syrian crisis unfold and countries closed their borders to refugees. 

“When I was given gruesome photographs documenting the torture of Syrian civilians, how could their emaciated and eviscerated bodies not put me in line with my parents, my grandparents, uncles and aunts who were imprisoned or literally went up in smoke in Auschwitz and Mauthausen and then other camps?” Bennett said.

Bennett felt the need to step up and help those suffering in Syria, as their suffering echoed her own family’s suffering in the Holocaust. 

“If I was to be true to the post-Holocaust admonition ‘never again,’ then ‘never again’ had to include my fellow human beings in Syria,” Bennett said.

But Bennett was just one person trying to create change within the huge Syrian humanitarian crisis. She needed to find an entry point and a gap that was not being addressed by large international organizations or governments.

She recognized that if she were to look at the crisis on a big-picture scale, she would be “paralyzed into inaction,” so she decided to focus on mobilizing a response from the American Jewish community. Once that was accomplished, she worked to organize a large interfaith response in the United States. That was when the Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees was born. The alliance now has over 100 partner organizations.

Bennett began to share several grim statistics that show how many Syrian citizens have been impacted: 11 years into the conflict, 80% of Syrians entered poverty, life expectancy dropped from 80 to 56, over 500,000 people have been killed, 11 million are urgently in need of aid, and half of Syria’s population is displaced. Women and children make up 80% of Syrian refugees. 

The list goes on, and the longer it goes, the more evident it becomes that Syria desperately needs help. 

After founding the Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees in 2013, Bennett visited Zaatari refugee camp, which is located less than 10 miles from the Syrian border with Jordan. The camp houses 80,000 refugees, making it Jordan’s fourth largest city.

“I expected to see a place of abject misery, and there was much of that — large families living in small tents or caravans with sparse furnishings. … But what I did witness was a startling affirmation of life and the building of the spontaneous, self-organizing community — a testament both to the resilience of Syrians and the hospitality of Jordanians,” Bennett said.

In the face of uncertainty and horror, Syrians host an array of shops and small businesses that sell everything from hardware, baked goods, bridal gowns, shoes and much more. The line of successful merchant tents has been coined “Champs-Élysée” after drawing similarities of its bustle to one of Paris’ most famous streets. 

As Syrian refugees work hard to create a new life for themselves in the face of war and displacement, they will likely spend over a decade searching for permanent asylum, as the average time of displacement is 10 to 26 years. 

Bennett points to two American presidents in recent years whose global conscience failed: Barack Obama and Donald Trump. 

In December 2012, the Assad regime, the ruling governmental body in Syria, was accused of using chemical weapons against its own citizens. 

Three months later, nearly 25 people were killed in chemical weapon attacks in the Khan al-Assal neighborhood of Aleppo and the Damascus suburb of al-Atebeh, Syria’s two largest cities. The Assad regime denied culpability. 

After 10 months of chemical warfare in Syria and political discourse on a solution, the Obama administration approved a plan that allowed Russia to enter Syria and remove the chemical weapons. 

“In that one act, Obama handed Syria to Russia, shifted the balance of power in the world and empowered Russia to do everything that followed: the annexation of Crimea in 2014, the invasion of Ukraine this year and the unrelenting air war for 11 years … that has destroyed the civilian infrastructure in Syria,” Bennett said.

Trump’s failures of American global conscience include his Muslim travel ban and tightening of American borders. 

“In the end, Trump unilaterally whittled away the U.S. presence, gave up U.S. leverage to Turkey without getting anything in return, and left valuable allies high and dry,” Bennett said. 

The impacts of the Obama and Trump administrations’ handling of Syria had immediate and lingering impacts that will continue for years. 

“When Trump left office, he left behind a largely dismantled infrastructure for processing refugees,” Bennett said. “So even in a more benign Biden administration, there are 29,000 fully vetted Syrian refugees in the pipeline who have been waiting for years to be resettled, and that makes the mobilization of individual conscience even more important in helping to make things right.”

Bennett recognized this need and was able to mobilize a group of like-minded thinkers to support Syrian refugees. But for the benefits to be reaped and come to fruition, it had to start with taking action. Israelis, Syrians and Jews put aside their differences – religious and political — to effectively support the 2.7 million Syrian refugees. Bennett feels this gives hope to all conflicts in need of resolution. 

“When I first became aware of the magnitude of the Syrian crisis, I felt I had to act. It was visceral,” Bennett said. “But you know what? You can act, too. When you confront an overwhelming crisis, like Syria or Ukraine, in which you want to do some good, keep my formula in mind: find an entry point, identify a gap and find something doable with which to fill that gap.”

Ray Chen has captivated countless audiences through both his social media and stage presence. In 2020, he virtually amazed Chautauquan audiences for CHQ Assembly, and now he makes his on-grounds debut.

“It’s exciting that he would have been enjoyed by Chautauqua audiences in that way two years ago, and now he’s here in person,” said Laura Savia, vice president of performing and visual arts.

At 8:15 p.m. Saturday, July 2, in the Amphitheater, the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra will collaborate with Chen for “Ray Chen Plays Mendelssohn.” The concert will open with “In Nature’s Realm,” composed by Antonín Dvořák. 

“It’s no coincidence that the Dvořák piece that opens the concert, ‘In Nature’s Realm,’ overture B, coincides with the first day of Week Two and its theme ‘The Wild: Reconnecting with Our Natural World,’ ” Savia said. “It’s so exciting at Chautauqua when there can be resonance between the live art on our stages and the theme we’re all exploring throughout a given week.”

The program will then shift to Chen, the first prize winner of the Yehudi Menuhin Competition in 2008 and Queen Elisabeth Competition in 2009, who will perform “Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto” in E minor, which Savia considers to be the essential violin concerto. 

“It’s truly a masterpiece,” Savia said. “I think Chatauquans will love Ray Chen, not only for his artistry, but for how he connects with audience and fans.”

This concerto holds a special place in Chen’s heart. He first learned the piece when he was 10 years old.

“Mendelssohn is one of probably the first few concertos that you learn that’s a major concerto,” Chen said. “In the beginning, you’re so excited. You’re learning the notes, you’re getting the hang of it, you know that excitement that’s so appropriate for the piece, it never fades.”

Chen has played the piece for much of his career, but he feels that it will always be fresh.

“How do you keep that freshness within a piece, especially one that’s so often played, that has lived with you for, now, let’s say decades?” Chen said. “The answer to that is a combination of looking back to the first time, and then a combination of all of the years of experience put together, as well. That’s what creates both the depth and the excitement. That is so necessary and important to a great performance.”

The concert will conclude with CSO’s performance of Debussy’s “La Mer.”

“The concert will not only showcase Ray Chen’s genius, but will really showcase the CSO,” Savia said. 

On Friday, Chen hosted a masterclass for School of Music students.

“We have three violins playing for him, and he offered feedback for each and worked with them individually,” said Sarah Malinoski-Umberger, manager of Chautauqua School of Performing and Visual Arts. “This is such an incredible opportunity for them. Having the chance to play for someone of his caliber is unparalleled.” 

Like Chautauqua’s mission, Chen values lifelong learning.

“We evolve as human beings; we’re constantly learning new things, and I love learning. I think that’s part of who I am, and it’s why I do so many projects,” Chen said. “I try to always combine my passions, in terms of performing, with music education, along with community building.”

Chen transcends the notions of being a high-profile classical soloist with how he engages with the public and his social media following, Savia said. 

Chen, who holds a strong social media presence with 328,000 Instagram followers, works against the stereotypes of classical music. Traditionally, a musician was judged on how well they played their instruments, and now there is so much to consider, Chen said. 

“Through his videos, he is committed to taking fans behind the scenes. He openly discusses everything, from dealing with insecurities to strategies for preparing for a concert,” Savia said. 

Chen’s social media combines the traditions of classical music with modern creativity. 

“What’s important is, from the institutional level, that we become supportive,” Chen said. “We present and we publicize loudly that we are not being judged just for this one thing, that has been the standard for years—that there are additional ways, as well, to be creative.”

Though social media has been a part of Chen’s career, his popularity on those platforms does not guarantee him concerts — but it does encourage him, Chen said.

“In terms of the confidence it gives, and in terms of the value it provides me, it goes beyond,” Chen said. “It’s not just the final performance. It’s everything that you learned along the way.”

Chen found the biggest benefit of combining his music and social media has been helping musicians of all ages learn and build a community — most recently through Tonic, an app he made. 

“I started creating content, and through that journey, built it up to what it is today. I think the most important part is the reason behind why people do things, and, for me, it was to inspire others. Now it’s evolved into: How can I inspire others to inspire others?” Chen said. 

What does it mean to explore “intervals of faith?” In music, an interval is the difference in pitch between two sounds. In a minor 2nd interval, the two notes sound fine in a scale but are dissonant when played together simultaneously. What theological insights occur when you pair that interval with the story of the Tower of Babel? A major 7th interval opens up the world; it is the sound of jazz and possibility. 

If paired with the Apostle Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians exploring the wisdom of God, how does the world expand? 

“Each sermon will focus on theological/biblical ideas illustrated through comparisons to a specific musical interval,” said the Rev. Randall K. Bush, Chautauqua’s chaplain for Week Two. 

A piano performance major in college, Bush will use a piano to illuminate his sermons. 

Bush will preach at the 10:45 a.m. Service of Worship and Sermon Sunday, July 3, in the Amphitheater. His sermon title is “Intervals of Faith (Major/Minor Thirds): For Everything There is a Season.” He will also preach at the 9:15 a.m. ecumenical worship services Monday through Friday in the Amp. The topics of his sermons include “Intervals of Faith (Minor 2nd): Dissonant Yet Necessary Words,” “Intervals of Faith (Minor 7th): Resolutions Today,” “Intervals of Faith (Perfect 4th): Perfection, Really?,” “Intervals of Faith (Tritone): Resolving Tensions,” and “Intervals of Faith (Major 7th): Expanding What’s Possible.”

Bush is the interim head of staff for Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church in Severna Park, Maryland. 

Previously he served 16 years as the senior pastor of East Liberty Presbyterian Church, referred to as The Cathedral of Hope, in Pittsburgh.

A native of the farming community of Paola, Kansas, he graduated from the University of Kansas with a piano performance degree. He studied at music conservatories in Salzburg, Austria, and Cologne, Germany. He graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary, and his first call was to work with the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa in Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe. Bush has also served First Presbyterian Church in Racine, Wisconsin. He completed his doctorate in theological ethics at Marquette University. 

Bush is the author of The Possibility of Contemporary Prophetic Acts: From Jeremiah to Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. and has published many book chapters, newspaper essays and sermons. He taught university and seminary courses in pastoral care, Christian ethics and prophetic preaching. He has received several preaching awards and recognitions, including the 2017 Hosanna Preaching Prize and the 2011 International “Food for Life” Preaching Award. He was invited to preach for Day 1 radio. 

Through leadership with the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, he has worked for full inclusion and marriage equality in the Presbyterian Church. 

Bush is married to Beth Johnstone. Their two children, Ian and Charlotte, have both worked at the Presbyterian House on the grounds. He still finds time to play the piano, especially the repertoire of Chopin, Brahms, Gershwin and Rachmaninoff. 

“I am grateful for any opportunity to promote and serve Christ’s gospel of justice, global peace, creativity and reconciliation,” he said.

Calling all leaders and staff of nonprofit organizations large and small, board members and other volunteers, those considering not-for-profit work, and those taking a break from it: Joan Garry — nonprofit leadership expert, executive coach and strategic adviser — will be at Chautauqua this weekend and she has much to impart, because what you do (and don’t do) matters, as does how and why you do it.

Through humor, storytelling and her contagious conviction about the power of the nonprofit sector, Garry will kick off the Chautauqua Women’s Club’s 2022 Contemporary Issues Forum with her talk, “ADVOCATE: Noun, Verb, You!”

The forum is at 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 2, in the Hall of Philosophy, a venue that is especially apropos for Garry. 

She attended Fordham College at Rose Hill in the Bronx, the oldest of Fordham University colleges. She graduated in 1979 with a double major in communications and philosophy.

“My particular focus was on ethics, defined as ‘advocacy for the good,’ ” Garry said. 

In her book, Joan Garry’s Guide to Nonprofit Leadership: Because the World is Counting on You, she wrote, “Father Jim Loughran, SJ, of blessed memory, taught my first philosophy class. He challenged me to consider the value of my moral compass, my own intellectual capacity, and the power of inquiry.”

Garry’s connection to Fordham has endured. In 2021, she served as a keynote speaker at Fordham’s fifth annual Women’s Summit. And this March, she and her spouse, Eileen Opatut, matched all gifts up to $50,000, to Fordham’s LGBTQ Student Wellbeing Fund.

Garry has also flourished outside of Fordham University. 

“In my first job out of college, I landed on the management team of MTV,”  Garry wrote in her book. “Yes, working at MTV in the early ’80s was just as cool as you can imagine. … I learned about the pace, intensity and thrill of being a part of a startup.” 

She also learned about innovation, budgets and balance sheets.

In 1989, eight years after beginning work at MTV, Garry moved on to Showtime Networks.

“There I became a very good manager of people,” she wrote. “I became a team player. I learned what it meant to be a good corporate citizen as one of the early gay poster children when Showtime began to walk the talk on diversity.”

During her second experience as a member of a cable TV management team —  launching Showtime’s pay-per-view channel —  Garry realized that she had a voice. 

“I became another poster child — essentially an employee advocate for better communication and transparency from the senior leadership,” she wrote. “… I found my voice as an advocate for the employees at Showtime. I found my wheelhouse.”

During this, she said she met the woman who would become her wife, and who she would raise children with. 

“We decided to have kids,” she said. “I believe your advocacy DNA explodes the minute you have a baby for the first time. You want to advocate for your kids, particularly given their unique family constellation. Eileen did all the birthing, and I did all the catching, so I was a legal stranger.”

They filed a lawsuit in 1993, In the Matter of the Adoption of a Child by J.M.G., so that Garry could gain legal rights to her daughter.

“This was a huge road for me,” she said. “The court basically ruled that I had the standing of a stepparent. Other states had that, but not New Jersey. That led me to think that there should be more I should do for my family.”

Garry began advocacy work that would benefit all LGBTQ community members. She was named CEO in 1997 of the non-governmental media monitoring organization Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), one of America’s largest gay rights organizations. Garry transformed its financial health from barely surviving to thriving. It soon became significant for changing hearts and minds about LGBTQ issues. 

“Probably our biggest accomplishment was persuading The New York Times to include photos of gay and lesbian couples on their wedding pages,” Garry said.

After eight years at GLAAD’s helm, Garry left in 2008 to co-chair the Obama Administration’s LGBT finance committee, starting her service in a leadership position on the board of a national organization.

Because she had experienced work with several nonprofit boards, she started a blog to continue advocating in an online space.

“Before I could blink, I had 100,000 viewers,” Garry said. “That led to a podcast and a book about how I can advocate for the success of nonprofits. I realized that most are tiny organizations. Seventy percent have budgets of less than half a million dollars. Who is their advocate?”

In 2017, it led to the launch of a membership website, Nonprofit Leadership Lab, for staff and board leaders of small nonprofits.

“I have supported close to 5,000 leaders in North America and the world,” Garry said. “Besides being a parent, nonprofit leadership has been the most rewarding work of my life. I help people in Australia run an organization more effectively. I kick up someone’s gala speech to earn more for their nonprofit.”

Of course, being a champion for nonprofits has its challenges.

“Nonprofits are messy,” Garry said. “It’s not a pejorative thing. The power is all around the organization. … It’s a very different model.”

Think about it: How could it be easy to lead a cash-strapped not-for-profit that is juggling a plethora of passionate people who are involved in a myriad of ways?

“The most challenging thing for me is that there are higher and lower levels,” Garry said. “One is that far too many people join boards and don’t really understand how important the job is. If they did, and they invested in doing the job well, nonprofits would be the better for it.” 

Another challenge, she said, is that “it’s almost as if the nonprofit sector needs a publicist.”

To Garry, nonprofit organizations are the “backbone of our society” because they “turn towns into communities.” 

She wants people to consider themselves as advocates in a world that badly needs them rather than as volunteers who say, “I just help out on Wednesdays.”

“People think that society has a dearth of leadership,” Garry said. “The hell it does. Go through a town and you’ll see the Y, the museum, the shelter. … These are people who give us hope. I want to elevate that because there should be no such thing as a ‘hidden gem.’ ”

The problems that Garry is drawn to now are those that are “particularly messy.”

She said that the nonprofit sector exploded in the 1970s with the anti-war and other movements, and lots of Baby Boomers are now retiring. Many are founders, or they behave as though they were founders, because of their long tenure, so setting up new directors for success is important to her.

“There are dust bunnies on top of dust bunnies,” Garry said.

She spoke on the influence of race in these leadership roles.

“There’s more racial reckoning, as more people of color are leading nonprofits. If you’re following someone who’s been in the job for 25 years, probably a white man, and then you come in as a person of color, they may not be able to set you up to succeed. I coach a fair number of executive directors of color who are doing that.” 

Garry said that she will challenge Chautauquans who come to the Hall of Philosophy on Saturday afternoon “to see themselves as advocates who not only have a point of view, but who also do something about it, who get out of the stands and onto the field.”

And because she believes that people need to see themselves as advocates, Garry wants them to look in the mirror and say, “That’s an advocate there!” 

Traumatic experiences often lead to a chain reaction of consequences. In the face of adversity, some retreat into their shell. Others make it their life’s work to prevent such traumas from impacting others. 

Satpal Singh, a professor at SUNY Buffalo in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, experienced a horrific religion-motivated attack 37 years ago. His life path was forever altered.

Singh spoke on the Chautauqua grounds this week for the first time, but in 2020, he appeared on the CHQ Assembly to discuss Sikhism and how to honor humans’ shared divine light. On Thursday, June 30, in the Hall of Philosophy, Singh delivered his lecture, “Global Consciousness in an Interconnected World,” as part of the Interfaith Lecture Series theme of “America’s Global Conscience.”

Singh is a founding trustee of the Sikh Council for Interfaith Relations and the former chairperson of the World Sikh Council America Region, among other renowned accomplishments related to interfaith and human rights. 

Singh received a doctorate in molecular biology from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai, India. His research on neurodegenerative diseases is his current focus in the field.

Singh’s presence at Chautauqua is rooted in near-tragedy.

“The reason I’m here comes from a night, a specific night, about 37 years ago — a dark, lonely night — the reason that I was driven toward what I’m going to discuss today, which is: What should be (our) values, what should be our conscience, and how should we live in a world that throws significant challenges at you?” Singh said.

While traveling on a train after Indira Gandhi’s assassination, which was committed by her two Sikh bodyguards, Singh found himself to be the target of a hate crime. A mob entered the train car searching for Sikh people. 

“This is a group of 25 or so young men in extreme anger, and they knew that it was the end of my journey,” Singh said. 

The men stared into Singh’s eyes, and as he stared back, he said his last prayer.

“I prayed for my family. I prayed for everybody else I knew … and in those 10 seconds in silence, when I was praying, I prayed for the attackers,” Singh said. “I prayed for their peace of mind, (for) their soul.”

Singh was beaten mercilessly, and his unconscious body was thrown under the train tracks to be left for dead. When he finally awoke, he walked to an army headquarters on the railway station. 

“They told me that they were very sorry, but they cannot give me shelter,” Singh said. 

Continuing his journey in search of shelter and assistance, Singh was able to contact the police. They also refused him shelter. 

“They said, ‘Sir, this is your fate. This is your destiny. How can we interfere in your destiny?’ ” Singh said.

After the attack, he moved to America to ensure he could pursue his work safely. 

He said many people wonder how he, moments away from losing his life, could possibly pray for the attackers. 

“The way I had grown up, with the principles I had grown up (with), I could never and still don’t see the difference between you and me,” Singh said. “I grew up with principles (that say) all of us are children of the same God.”

This principle is relevant when discussing America’s global conscience. 

“I don’t think we can make any progress if we don’t see everyone else as (ourselves),” Singh said. “If we see somebody else as Other … we have lost our own connection to our own faith.”

While he believes no human should be looked down upon, Singh also believes everyone has always been deeply interconnected; all humans are children of God in his eyes.

“If we fight with each other, in my mind, it’s the same thing as a mother having two sons and each of those sons look at the other one, saying, ‘My mother is better than your mother,’ ” Singh said. 

Singh transitioned to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which he said is not unique. 

“We have seen Darfur, we have seen Rwanda, we have seen Syria, we have seen Chechnya. … What have we not seen? When will it end? We have no idea,” Singh said.

God may have created the Earth and humans, but Singh said God did not create territories, countries or borders. 

“Why did we have to create our own tectonic plates? We know that geological tectonic plates are there, and when they rub against each other, we get earthquakes, we get tsunamis,” Singh said. “We have created our own societal tectonic plates, which rub against each other and create brutalities, oppression and atrocities that are beyond our mind — that are so mind-numbing, that we cannot even put those details in responsible media.”

Despite the separation of domains and borders, Singh said he believes everyone is interconnected — both human to human and the individual conscience to the collective community; global cooperation through shared consciousness is needed to live sustainably.

Singh spoke on three main areas related to global conscience: equality, human rights and democratic principles.

Although America has more equal rights than most countries, he said Americans do not always practice equality. There may be progress toward a better tomorrow, but Singh said the progress is far too slow. 

Singh’s office in Buffalo is within walking distance of the Buffalo Tops Friendly Market that was the site of a race-driven massacre on May 14. Singh asked how we could forget and still assume we are equal.

The Buffalo Tops shooting is not an isolated incident, he said. With mass shootings happening multiple times a week in America, often driven by hatred, how can we be equal?

An emotional Singh quoted Robert Frost: “The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep.”

In spite of everything, Singh views all humans as one. He believes everyone should be treated equally, with kindness, compassion and respect. 

“Even when other countries or other states or other communities around us mistreat us, that should not make us lose our values. It is not something that we should give up,” Singh said. 

Speaking on human rights, Singh spoke specifically on the mistreatment and abuse of women. America may have more rights protected for women than some other countries, but Singh shared that in America, four women a day die from domestic violence. 

“There are very robust neurological imaging studies that (show that) 80 to 85% of women who suffer domestic abuse have traumatic brain injury,” Singh said. “And if you look at those statistics, there are around 20 million women in America who have suffered traumatic brain injury.”

Although America is looked at as a role model for democracy, Singh said our country needs to sustain that and not become complacent. 

Spiritual leaders serve an important role in the preservation and implementation of equality, human rights and democracy. Even though some say religion leads to division, Singh disagrees.

“People who want to exploit religion (try to divide humans). Religious leaders who believe in their own faith can play a very significant role in bringing up good values and character,” he said. 

To end his speech, Singh gave the audience a call to action. 

“We generally ask what any one individual of us can do, and my general answer is we have to do something, each one of us have to do something,” Singh said. “Whatever tugs at your heart, pick up that. Then pick up what is your strength. You may be good at giving a lecture, you may be good at writing articles, you may be good at organizing a non-governmental organization. … (When) you (go home), think about ‘What is my mission, and what can I do to add to the global conscience of this country?’ ”

The sociologist became a criminologist, then went into insurance and banking. Next, a broadcast journalist. Now a philanthropist and author. This is the broad spectrum of careers Georgette Bennett has held, intertwining throughout her life.

Bennett’s work focuses on conflict resolution and intergroup relations. She speaks at 2 p.m. Friday, July 1, in the Hall of Philosophy on “When America’s Global Conscience Fails: How the Syrian Crisis Upended the World Order and How Individual Conscience Can Help to Put it Right.” 

“In the case of Syria, there was a massive failure of America’s global conscience,” Bennett said. “That failure occurred on a couple of different levels on foreign policy failure, which I will talk about, but also a failure of humanity, a failure of our policy for refugees and displaced persons.”

She said the consequences have been massive in terms of both death counts, and geopolitics. Her hope for her closing presentation of the Week One Interfaith Lecture Series theme of America’s Global Conscience” is to motivate, inspire and empower her audience.

“I hope rather than despairing about what goes on at the macro level, that it will inspire people to take action at the micro level,” Bennett said.

Her several career paths are all interwoven, Bennett said, and can all be tied back to her work as a sociologist. Bennett said she still uses resources from that job.

“Even though these seem like very diverse careers, all of them have a common thread,” Bennett said. “For all of them I use my sociologist’s tool kit in terms of the way I approach the work.”

Bennett founded the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding in 1992, to continue her late husband, Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum’s legacy. 

She has also founded multiple organizations to help displaced people and refugees.

“When (my husband) died he left me very inspired,” Bennett said. “I just decided that nothing I had been doing in my professional life was as important as building on his work. At the time that he died, there were at least 50 conflicts being waged around the world based, at least in part, on religion.”

Bennett said these conflicts had caused the number of displaced people to rise from 40 million in the world at the time, to 100 million, where it sits in 2022.

In 2013, she founded the Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees. Bennett and her family had been Hungarian refugees who escaped the Holocaust and relocated to Queens, New York, so it’s an issue close to her heart.

“At the age of 67, in 2013, I read a report on the Syrian crisis issued by the International Rescue Committee. As a child of the Holocaust and a refugee myself, I was stunned by the magnitude of Syrian suffering,” Bennett told Forbes in 2021. 

Throughout her life, Bennett has supported victims of religion-based war.

“I’m also going to tell a personal story about how one individual can confront a massive humanitarian crisis and the formula I used to address it,” Bennett said, “which resulted in delivering — as of now, but still counting — over $250 million worth of aid, most of it directly benefiting 2.7 million Syrian war victims.”