2011 Previews

There are obvious ways to enjoy summer, like swimming, bike riding, ice cream and picnics. But for the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle’s Young Readers Program, the summer — which is full of talking animals, angels, poets, unlikely heroes and adventure — is anything but typical.

A whole new cast of writers and poets will return this summer to live at the Literary Arts Center at Alumni Hall. The Writers’ Center will welcome both new and old writers-in-residence for lectures and workshops, including several new additions to the programming.

Every book is a challenge: to be enjoyed, to be finished and, especially, to be understood. This summer, the 2011 Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle’s 2011 reading list presents a season-long theme of challenge.

The Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra will welcome 16 guest conductors and 21 soloists over its 21-concert, eight-week season. Though many of the guests will be familiar faces to longtime Chautauquans, nearly half of them are new to the CSO.

Now in its 11th season, the Mystic Heart Program continues to offer opportunities for meditation, led by Subagh Singh Khalsa and other returning Chautauquans. Throughout the summer, Mystic Heart Program participants will experience Sikhism, Islam, Sufism, Judaism, Kabbalah, Kundalini Yoga, Zen Buddhism and Christian methods of meditation.

Abstract work from the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, N.Y., featured in the exhibition “Abstract in America: 1940s to 1960s” will be on display in the Strohl Art Center throughout the summer. This is supported by the three-year partnership with the Albright-Knox.

A brand new entrance to the ground and an extensive rain garden designed to help protect Chautauqua Lake from Institution water runoff are just two projects that highlight a typically busy off-season for Chautauqua’s grounds and landscape staff, whose efforts were severely hindered by rainfall heavier than many could recall.

Opera programs across the country have been facing struggles in light of the recent economic crisis, and many are seeing drastically lower attendance rates. With the recent closing of several notable companies, like the Baltimore Opera Company, and the gloomy forecast for others, like the New York City Opera, many opera administrators are seeking ways to bring the art form to a new audience, without ostracizing the loyal. Jay Lesenger, Chautauqua Opera Company’s artistic/general director, said this opera company is no exception.