August 28, 2011 
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Two short months after Chautauqua President Tom Becker opened the season with the trio of gavel taps at the morning worship service, he will make the exact same gesture. But this service will carry a very different feeling.
As is custom, Becker will close the season with the three taps of the gavel at the final Sacred Song service of the season at 8 p.m. Sunday in the Amphitheater.
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August 26, 2011 Comments Off
Frederick Douglass’ speech “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro” came back to life at Chautauqua on Thursday as actor Roger Guenveur Smith recited the abolitionist’s words for the Interfaith Lecture Series.
“What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim,” Smith said, reciting the speech.
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August 25, 2011 Comments Off
To close this week’s Interfaith Lecture Series, the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell and Rex Ellis are going to compile the week’s ideas and information to encourage the audience to do one thing: take action.
“It’ll be a wind-up, really, of the whole week, and we’ll bring it into the present. If we hold these truths to be self-evident, well, what are these truths, and do we follow them?” Campbell said, adding that today’s lecture will bring the theme full circle.
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August 25, 2011 1 Comment
A common misconception is that after former President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, everything became suddenly easier for slaves. But 10 actor-interpreters from the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation disproved that theory in the performance “Promises of Freedom” at the Interfaith lecture at 2 p.m. in the Hall of Philosophy Wednesday.
Many slaves were skeptical of the legitimacy of Lincoln’s offer. They had been promised freedom before and had it taken away. Other slaves were left without families because their children and spouses had been sold. For some slaves, the Emancipation Proclamation did not even apply to them.
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August 24, 2011 Comments Off
From research to papers, videos to music, Roger Guenveur Smith has been reenacting Frederick Douglass’ life since he was an undergraduate in college.
At 2 p.m. today in the Hall of Philosophy, Smith will choose recitation as his method of interpretation for the Chautauqua audience. He will recite Douglass’ speech from 1815 about what the Fourth of July means to African-Americans.
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August 24, 2011 Comments Off
The first Chautauquans arrived for Tuesday’s 2 p.m. Interfaith Lecture almost two hours early, said Maureen Rovegno. By 1:30 p.m., the seats were packed for “Storm on the Horizon,” a character-interpretation by members of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
Rovegno, the assistant director of the Department of Religion, did not seem surprised by the large turnout, though. When other members of the Foundation performed at Chautauqua in 2009, the event was just as popular.
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August 24, 2011 Comments Off
The arts often are used to tell a story or send a message. Composers and performers often make music to portray a feeling. Actors use characters to tell a story and present a theme, and the actor-interpreters at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation do this at every performance. But tonight, they will be joined by some of the Foundation’s musicians.
At 8:15 p.m. tonight in the Amphitheater, the actor-interpreters and musicians will work together to tell the story of “A Wolf by the Ear,” detailing Thomas Jefferson’s reflections of the Missouri Compromise of 1820.
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August 24, 2011 Comments Off
To close the “Liszt at 200!” Massey Memorial Organ Mini-Concert series, organist Jared Jacobsen will highlight one of Franz Liszt’s most enduring qualities — his passion for teaching.
Because Liszt was such a dedicated teacher, Jacobsen chose to play music written by a modern child prodigy. At 12:15 p.m. today in the Amphitheater, Jacobsen will perform the East Coast premiere of “Galaxies and Explosions,” a 2010 organ piece from “Mysteries of Space” by 15-year-old Thomas Mellan. Mellan was born in Paris but now is a high school junior in California.
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Chautauqua Institution is a community on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York state that comes alive each summer with a unique mix of fine and performing arts, lectures, interfaith worship and programs, and recreational activities. Over the course of nine weeks, more than 170,000 visitors will participate in programs, classes and community events for all ages—all within the beautiful setting of a historic lakeside village. Learn more →
