Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra principal timpanist and frequent guest conductor Stuart Chafetz will be the featured speaker for the Hebrew Congregation’s Shirley Lazarus Sunday Speakers Series at 8 p.m. Sunday in the Hurlbut Church sanctuary.
Chafetz has served as principal timpanist of the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra since 1997. This year, he guest conducted the annual Independence Day concert, which he has done for the past nine years, as well as the Opera Pops concert in August.
Chafetz is resident conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. His guest conducting experiences include the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, the Florida Orchestra, Honolulu Symphony and the Louisiana Philharmonic. As music director of the Maui Symphony and the Maui Pops Orchestra from 1999 to 2009, Chafetz saw the artistic growth and increased stateside exposure of this group. He was responsible for the first symphonic live radio broadcast of the Maui Symphony on Hawaii’s Public Radio. Chafetz hosted a nationally aired PBS special, “Hawaii: The Old and the New,” which featured some of Hawaii’s most talented young performers.
Chafetz was educated at Eastman School of Music and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
The Chautauquan Daily 
