Interim Chief Executive Kyle Keogh delivers the opening Three Taps of the Gavel Address titled “A Summer of Gratitude” June 28 in the Amphitheater.
MARY LEE TALBOT
Staff Writer
How will you recall the 2026 Season at Chautauqua? What events and people will you reminisce about? How will you commemorate the people who are no longer with us?
During the first morning worship of the season, after the opening Three Taps of the Gavel, there is a time for “Chautauqua Milestones,” those Chautauquans who have died since the opening of the previous season. On Old First Night, the Drooping of the Lilies — the raising and lowering of white handkerchiefs — honors the memories of past presidents, Board of Trustees members and staff leaders.
At 8 p.m. Sunday in the Amphitheater, the Sacred Song Service will offer a Service of Remembering, a time for all who mourn to be comforted and to remember anyone who has died or anyone who is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.
Books of Remembrance will be on the front apron of the stage. There will be a time in the service to come and write in them. These books are kept year to year in the denominational houses. The books are non-denominational, in that remembrances may be left in any of the books.
The Sacred Song Service has been created all season by Sonya Subbayya Sutton, the interim director of Sacred Music. In a conversation earlier in the summer, she noted that the service of remembrance was one that Chautauquans looked forward to, and she felt the final Sacred Song Service was an appropriate time to look backward but also forward.
The prelude is “Prelude for a Farewell,” based on an old Scottish tune arranged by James Woodman. Anthems include: “Kumbaya,” arranged by Paul Sjolund; “Shalom,” music by Dan Forrest, and text from John 14:27; and “Dona nobis pacem,” by Giulio Caccini, arranged by James A. Moore. Hymns will include “Day is Dying in the West,” “The Day You Gave Us, Lord, is Ended,” “Abide with Me” and “Now the Day is Over.” The service will end with the playing of “Largo,” from George Frideric Handel’s Xerxes.
Readings will include a note about Chautauqua by Lewis Miller from The Chautauqua Movement, and the poem “Knoxville: Summer of 1915,” by James Agee.
The Rt. Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton, senior pastor for Chautauqua, will preside. Alan Seale will serve as reader. The Chautauqua Choir will be under the direction of Sonya Subbayya Sutton, who will also play the Massey Memorial Organ. The Three Taps of the Gavel to close the 2026 Season will take place immediately after the playing of “Largo.”
Attendees of the Sacred Song Service, themed a Service of Remembrance, write the names of loved ones who have died since the previous season July 13, 2025 in the Amphitheater.
