Leah Rankin

When pianist Rose Chancler Feinbloom submitted an advertisement to Craigslist looking for a musician to play contemporary chamber music with her, she never expected the ad to be answered by a marimba player. Jane Boxall, classical marimba player by day and rock drummer by night, answered the ad within three hours of its being posted to the Internet. That was back in 2008. The two, now officially known as the Ricochet Duo, will perform a concert at 4 p.m. today in Fletcher Music Hall.

An orchestra has many musicians, but it breathes as a unit. For some symphony orchestras, it may take years to foster the kind of bond necessary to produce top quality music, but students in the Music School Festival Orchestra have only seven weeks. At 8:15 p.m. tonight, the MSFO will perform its first of five concerts in the Amphitheater. Led by music director and conductor Timothy Muffitt, the concert will feature four works that would appear at home on any professional symphony’s program. However, there will be something that sets the MSFO apart.

When pianist John Milbauer first came to the School of Music in 1989, he was on the verge of giving up music forever. Playing the piano was a physical struggle. He was frustrated with the technical aspect of the piano, and he just didn’t have the right teacher — until Chautauqua changed all that.

The sun dazzled Mole’s sleepy eyes as he poked his nose out from his chilly underground home into the sweet-smelling spring air of the English countryside. The thrill of adventure beckoned as Mole set off in pursuit of what would soon become one of the most beloved tales of children’s literature, The Wind in the Willows. At 4:15 p.m. today in the Garden Room of Alumni Hall, the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle Young Readers Program will meet to discuss the most binding theme of this classic novel — friendship.

The Piano Program at the School of Music is, in a word, unconventional. As piano students introduce themselves to each other and faculty through a private “Play-In” today, they embark on a summer program that will allow them the opportunity to learn adventurous approaches to making music.

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.